Turkish President Erdoğan, EU Commission head discuss developments in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday discussed recent developments in Syria in the wake of the rapid collapse of the decades-long Baath regime.

The process for Syrians' voluntary return from Türkiye has been planned, and efforts for Syria's reconstruction will help accelerate that return, Erdoğan told von der Leyen in a phone call, according to Türkiye's Communications Directorate. During the Syrian civil war, some 4 million Syrians took shelter in Türkiye, more than any other country in the world.

"President Erdoğan stated that Türkiye will continue to strongly support the Syrian people in the upcoming period to ensure the removal of terrorist elements from Syria, restore its unity, preserve its territorial integrity, and enable all Syrians, from every ethnic and religious background, to live in peace," said the directorate on X.

Following the Nov. 27 outbreak of clashes between anti-regime groups and Assad regime forces, Bashar Assad and his family fled to Russia on Sunday after anti-regime groups took control of the capital Damascus, marking the collapse of the Baath Party regime, which had been in power in Syria since 1963.