Russia was the first country to restart a mission after Assad left office. Blinken stresses civil rights defense and an open Syrian government.
- The embassy of Turkey reopens after the Assad period.
- Blinken is in favor of a government in Syria that is inclusive.
After Bashar Assad was removed from power last Saturday, Turkey was the first country to open its office in Syria again.
Turkey was very helpful to the rebels in Syria who got rid of Assad. The Syrian civil war made it unsafe for the Turkish embassy in Damascus to close in 2012.
This was the first time that the Turkish flag had been flown over the building since official ties were broken.
Even though there was a 13-year war, some countries kept formal ties with Assad’s government, and others have only recently reopened their posts to try to make things better.
According to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and some other friends from the area, the new government in Syria needs to be open to all citizens, protect the rights of women and minorities, speak out against terrorism, and deal with the chemical weapons that were likely stored by the Assad regime.
At the end of a trip around the area in Aqaba, Jordan, Blinken said again that he was ready to support a change led by Syria, with the UN playing a key role in providing food and protecting minorities. On his past trips, he stopped in Baghdad, Ankara, and Petra.
Geir Pederson, the U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, says that there must be a legitimate and open democratic process that includes all Syrian groups.
He stressed how important it was to keep government institutions from falling apart and get relief help to the Syrian people quickly so that they could have new opportunities.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry says the main topic of the talks will be supporting a Syrian-led, all-encompassing political process that aims to achieve a transitional process that guarantees the rebuilding of the state while “protecting the rights of all Syrian citizens while ensuring Syria’s unity, sovereignty, and stability.”