Turkiye calls on EU to lift Syria sanctions

ISTANBUL: Turkiye on Sunday called on the European Union to unconditionally lift sanctions on Syria, ahead of an international aid conference in Brussels to which the war-torn country´s new authorities have been invited.

Ankara, allied with Syria´s new rulers who ousted president Bashar al-Assad and took power in December, views such a step as necessary for a “peaceful transition” in the country, Turkiye´s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The European Union on Monday will host the ninth international conference in support of Syria. For the first time, representatives of Syria´s government -- the new interim authorities -- have been invited to attend.

The event aims to raise international support for Syria´s transition and recovery after more than 13 years of civil war. The European bloc on February 24 already announced an easing of sanctions on Syria´s energy, transport and banking sectors to relieve some of the challenges facing Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria´s interim president.

But Europe and other powers remain wary over what direction Sharaa´s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) -- which spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8 -- may take Syria.