Turkish Top Officials Make Sudden Trip to Damascus after Syria's Deal with Kurdish-led Group

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (2-R) meets with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on March 13, 2025. (Turkish Foreign Ministry press service handout via AFP)

Türkiye’s top diplomat, defense minister and intelligence chief paid a sudden visit to Damascus on Thursday, days after Syria’s interim government reached a deal to integrate a US backed Kurdish-led armed group into the country’s army.
The agreement to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, into the Syrian government followed fierce clashes that erupted last week.
Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, met with Hakan Fidan, Türkiye’s foreign minister; Yasar Guler, defense minister, and Ibrahim Kalin, head of national intelligence. They were accompanied by Türkiye’s ambassador to Syria, Burhan Koroglu.
According to local news agency DHA, an official from the Turkish Defense Ministry, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity, said earlier Thursday that Ankara intends to examine “how the agreement reached will be implemented and its reflections on the field.”
The official added that Türkiye’s expectations on Syria have not changed.
“There is no change in our expectations for the termination of terrorist activities in Syria, the disarmament of terrorists and the expulsion of foreign terrorists from Syria,” the official said.
Türkiye designates the SDF and its military arm, People’s Protection Units, as terrorist organizations because of their links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party.