Brussels, 11 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to visit Turkey for discussions on Syria, she posted on X on Tuesday evening following a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"We’ll meet early next week in Türkiye to discuss what this development means for the region and beyond," she posted, using an alternative name for Turkey.

Von der Leyen emphasized the importance of maintaining Syria's territorial integrity and protecting minorities.

Both the European Union and Turkey hope for stability in Syria after the fall of leader Bashar al-Assad, with expectations that more Syrian refugees will return to their homeland voluntarily.

However, uncertainties persist as the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations, led the overthrow of al-Assad.

The new EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned members of the European Parliament on Tuesday about potential risks of sectarian violence, extremism resurgence and a governance vacuum in Syria.

Kallas stressed the need to prevent a recurrence of the horrific scenarios seen in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.

She highlighted the fact that the situation in Syria reflects the weakened state of al-Assad's long-time allies in Russia and Iran, who are preoccupied with other conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

For Putin and the Iranian regime, the fall of al-Assad is a heavy blow, said Kallas, who is a former prime minister of Estonia. She underscored the importance of regional and international cooperation to support Syria.

Photo: X