Syrian, Israeli officials to meet in Baku, Azerbaijan

Ya Libnan

2 days ago

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) receiving Syria's interim President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Baku, Azerbaijan, July 12. — AFP
A Syrian and an Israeli official are expected to meet in Baku later on Saturday on the sidelines of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Azerbaijan, a diplomatic source in Damascus with knowledge of the issue said.
'There will be a meeting between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of the visit being conducted by Sharaa in Baku,' said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation, which neighbours its arch foe Iran.
The diplomatic source stressed that Sharaa himself would not attend the Baku meeting, which would focus on 'the recent Israeli military presence in Syria'.
After the
overthrow
of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of
air strikes
in Syria to prevent key military assets from falling into the hands of the interim administration headed by Sharaa.
It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces on the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria.
Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbors and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks.
Sharaa's government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a
return
to the 1974 disengagement agreement, which created the buffer zone.
Israel views Sharaa's government in the context of his past links with
Al-Qaeda
and ISIS .
But late last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalisation agreement with Syria. A Syrian government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was 'premature'.
But during a visit to Lebanon this week, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: 'The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel.'
After
meeting
Sharaa in Riyadh in May, US President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalized their relations with Israel under the Abraham Accord.
'[Sharaa] said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,' Trump said.
The Syrian president arrived in Baku earlier today for talks with his counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan announced it would begin exporting gas to Syria via Turkiye, according to a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency.
Syria's authorities are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.
The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.
'The importance of cooperation between our countries, particularly in the energy sector, was highlighted at the meeting, and it was reported that Syria is currently facing a serious energy problem,' the presidency said in a statement.
'A project to export Azerbaijani gas to Syria via Turkey will be implemented in the near future, which will contribute to ensuring the energy security of this country,' the statement added.
In May, Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said Damascus and Ankara had reached a deal for Turkey to supply natural gas to the war-torn country via a pipeline in the north.
Gas-rich Azerbaijan is a historic ally of Turkey which maintains close ties with the Syrian transitional government.
Ilham Aliyev has regularly aligned himself with Turkey's positions on international issues, including Syria.
News Agencies