The Turkish flag was raised for the first time at its embassy in Damascus, the Syrian capital, as the mission resumed operations following a hiatus of 12 years between both nations.
The embassy, which had suspended operations in 2012, officially reopened with Burhan Koroglu, Türkey’s ambassador to Mauritania, as acting charge d’affaires pending the appointment of substantive ambassador for the seat.
Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, had formally assigned Koroglu to the new post to avoid any leadership vacuum at the mission office in Damascus.
Located near the city’s Rawda Square in an area where the diplomatic missions of many other countries were also located, the Turkish Embassy continued to provide its services for a time after the regime’s violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2011.
However, it suspended its daily activities on March 26, 2012, forcing the embassy staff and their families to return home following this decision from their government.
Since the downfall of the Bashar Assad regime earlier this month, the Syrian Consulate General in Istanbul has continued its operations uninterrupted.
Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power in Syria since 1963.
