Turkey's top diplomat meets Syria's new leader in Damascus

Turkey's foreign minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Ankara's foreign ministry said.

A video released by the Anadolu state news agency showed the two men greeting each other.

No details of where the meeting took place in the Syrian capital were released by the ministry.

Fidan had announced on Friday that he planned to travel to Damascus to meet Syria's new leaders, who ousted Syria's strongman Bashar al-Assad after a lightning offensive

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels..

Turkey's spy chief Ibrahim Kalin had earlier visited the city on December 12, just a few days after Assad's fall.

Kalin was filmed leaving the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, surrounded by bodyguards, as broadcast by the private Turkish channel NTV.

Turkey has been a key backer of the opposition to Assad since the uprising against his rule began in 2011.

• Qatar embassy reopens in Syria with brief flag-raising ceremony: AFP