Al-Assad thanks Arab nations for solidarity with Syria

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Feb 18:51
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Several countries intervened in Turkey to provide humanitarian assistance, but help in Syria was delayed due to western-imposed sanctions.

Syrian President Bashar el Assad pictured with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on February 15, 2023. Taken from The Syrian Presidency's Facebook account

During a meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday said that he positively received "any positive stance" from Arab nations, including those who had severed their diplomatic ties with Damascus since 2011.

The second state visit by an Arab diplomat since the quake happened. Last Sunday, the Syrian President met with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Damascus, whom he thanked for the humanitarian aid provided to Syria.

"The Syrian people welcome and respond to any positive stance towards them, especially from the Arab brothers," Assad said, as per a statement issued by his office while calling for "bilateral cooperation between Syria and Jordan" to improve.

The earthquake which had rocked Turkey and Syria on February 6 has so far claimed the lives of nearly 40,000 people.

Several countries intervened in Turkey to provide humanitarian assistance, but help in Syria was delayed due to western-imposed sanctions.

Some countries defied the western-led embargo and delivered humanitarian assistance to the quake-stricken country despite the sanctions, including Iran, Russia, China, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Armenia, and Jordan.

"We have been cooperating for a long time, but we highly appreciate this visit because it comes at an appropriate time," Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told Jordan's Al Mamlaka TV after the visit.

Ever since the start of the war on Syria in 2011 and Syria's suspension from the Arab League, Jordan, and Syria maintained limited contact until June 2021, when Syria sent a ministerial delegation for an official visit to Jordan.

Jordan's king Abdullah II also reportedly called the Syrian leader following the quake, marking the second phone call between the two since the start of the Syrian civil war.

Saudi Arabia likewise delivered a plane carrying aid in Aleppo on Tuesday, the first in more than a decade of severed diplomatic ties.

Syria also received aid from Egypt with whom Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held his first-ever exchange with the Syrian leader.

The King of Bahrain has also expressed solidarity with Syria and held his first official conversation with al-Assad in more than a decade.

Bahrain and Syria renewed diplomatic ties in 2018.