Ensure peaceful Syrian transition: Blinken to W Asia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pressing ahead with efforts to unify West Asian nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria. He is meeting, on Friday, with Turkiye’s foreign minister after talks with President Recep Tayyip...

AP

Jerusalem, Updated At : 07:56 AM Dec 14, 2024 IST

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. File photo

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pressing ahead with efforts to unify West Asian nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria.

He is meeting, on Friday, with Turkiye’s foreign minister after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to bring Turkiye into a consensus to prevent Syria from collapsing into wider turmoil. It’s Blinken’s 12th trip to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza.

The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory.