The foreign ministers of Türkiye, the United States and Syria will meet in southern Türkiye on Thursday to discuss details of US President Donald Trump's pledge to lift sanctions on Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday.
In a surprise announcement, Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It was a major US policy shift ahead of his meeting on Wednesday with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the crown prince, and Erdogan, who joined virtually.
Erdogan has repeatedly urged Trump to rescind the US sanctions on Syria since the president returned to the White House in January.
Speaking to state broadcaster TRT Haber ahead of an informal NATO foreign ministers' meeting in the southern Turkish province of Antalya, Fidan said the leaders' meeting on Wednesday was of "historic importance".
He said the lifting of sanctions would enable financial flows, investment and infrastructure development in Syria, which was politically fractured and left in widespread ruins by the war.
"Now tomorrow, we, as the three foreign ministers - Mr. Rubio, Mr. Al-Shaibani, and myself - will come together after the NATO meeting in Antalya and we will work on how to carry forward the details of the agreement that the leaders set the framework for and agreed upon," Fidan said, referring to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.
"Of course, there is a (congressional) leg to this matter in the United States, there is an administration leg, but there is a will that Mr. Trump has put forth from the start. Within the framework of this will, and the work we will do, we hope the majority of these sanctions will be lifted as soon as possible."
Removing US sanctions that cut Syria off from the global financial system will clear the way for greater engagement by humanitarian organizations working in Syria, easing foreign investment and trade as the country rebuilds.
