Turkey has named a new ambassador to Syria for the first time in 13 years, reinstating full diplomatic representation in Damascus as part of a broader push to repair ties with President Bashar Assad’s government. On Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz was appointed ambassador under a decree by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, published in the country’s Official Gazette, sealing a step that had been under quiet discussion for months.
The move reverses a break that began in 2012, when Turkey shut its embassy in Damascus and backed Syrian opposition groups as the uprising against Assad turned into a brutal civil war. Since then, Ankara has hosted millions of Syrian refugees, sent troops into northern Syria, and coordinated closely with Russia and Iran in uneasy ceasefire talks while refusing formal normalization with Damascus.
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
Reopening the embassy is part of a wider reset. Turkey has also restarted operations at its consulate in Aleppo, Syria’s largest northern city and once a key commercial partner for Turkish businesses. Turkish Airlines earlier resumed direct flights between Istanbul and Damascus for the first time in more than a decade, with regular service now running three days a week.
Yılmaz, a veteran official who spent a decade in Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization before becoming deputy foreign minister in 2024, will be at the center of the next phase: negotiations over security in border regions, the future of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and coordination with other regional powers that have already restored ties with Assad. For Ankara and Damascus, the new ambassador signals that the era of frozen embassies is giving way to cautious, interest-driven diplomacy.