Turkish foreign minister says work has begun on opening an embassy in Damascus

Turkey has started work on opening an embassy in Damascus. This was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on December 10.

"We have started work on the embassy in Damascus," the Star newspaper quoted him as saying.

He noted that the government will wait for the fulfillment of the relevant conditions.

Rules of Transition: How Events in Syria are Changing the Balance of Power in the Middle East

And who Russian authorities have been in contact with in the country since Assad left it

Earlier, on December 8, during a telephone conversation, US Defense Chief Lloyd Austin and his Turkish counterpart Yaşar Güler discussed the situation in Syria and reiterated the need to avoid escalation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 7 advocated peace in Syria and said there were no territorial claims to the neighboring country. He added that Syria belongs to Syrians with all its ethnic and religious elements.

The situation in Syria has escalated as a result of a major attack by armed militias in Aleppo and Idlib, which began on November 28 and led to the Syrian army's retaliation against the militants.