Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan Says Syria Achieving Greater Economic Growth and Healing

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in Damascus that Syria is "achieving greater economic growth day by day" and has begun "healing the wounds of war," describing the country's recovery as essential for the stability of the wider region. Fidan's remarks came during a visit to the Syrian capital, part of a series of high-level exchanges between Ankara and the transitional government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Turkey has positioned itself as one of Damascus's closest backers through the transition, maintaining open channels with the new administration on security, trade and reconstruction while much of the rest of the international community only gradually resumed formal ties. Ankara has also pushed for the lifting of Western sanctions that constrained Syria's banking and energy sectors for over a decade, arguing that economic normalization is a precondition for any durable recovery. Gulf states have followed a parallel track: Qatar reopened its embassy in Damascus after Assad's ouster and has supported Syria's electricity and reconstruction needs, while Saudi Arabia and other Gulf capitals have re-engaged the new government diplomatically and economically. Fidan's comments reflect this broader regional push to stabilize Syria after nearly fourteen years of civil war, during which the country's infrastructure, currency and institutions were severely degraded. Turkish officials have repeatedly framed Syria's reconstruction as a shared regional interest, tying Ankara's own border security and the return of Syrian refugees hosted in Turkey to the pace of economic recovery inside Syria.