Syria's president to visit the United Arab Emirates

7/4/2025 6:04

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa will make his first visit

to the United Arab Emirates and is also scheduled to visit

Turkey next week, the Syrian foreign ministry said in a

statement on Sunday, as he continues to garner support for the

new administration.



Sharaa, who previously visited Turkey in February, will

make the UAE his second Gulf destination after traveling to



Saudi Arabia



that same month on his first foreign trip since assuming

the presidency in January.



He and other members of the new Syrian leadership have

been working to strengthen ties with both Arab and Western

leaders following the



fall of Bashar al-Assad



in a lightning offensive in December, led by Sharaa's Sunni

Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.



Sharaa and his officials have also called for a full

lifting of sanctions on Syria.



Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kick

start an economy collapsed by nearly 14 years of war, during

which the United States, the U.K. and Europe placed tough

sanctions on people, businesses and whole sectors of Syria's

economy in a bid to squeeze now-ousted leader Assad.