US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met Jordan’s King Abdullah as President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration pushes for an inclusive transition in neighbouring Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
The top US diplomat is in the region to seek support and establish a unified approach for principles that Washington hopes will guide the political transition in Syria after the toppling of longtime ruler al-Assad.
“It should be inclusive, non-sectarian,” Blinken told reporters on Thursday in Aqaba, Jordan, describing the criteria for the transition process. “It’s got to uphold and protect the rights of all Syrians, including minorities, including women,” he said, moments before departing for Ankara, Turkiye.
Blinken also said that the role of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group was “critical” to preventing a resurgence of ISIS (ISIL) in Syria.
“At a time when we want to see this transition… to a better way forward for Syria, part of that also has to be ensuring that ISIS doesn’t rear its ugly head again,” Blinken noted.
“Critical to making sure that doesn’t happen are the so-called SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces,” he added.
Announcing the trip, the State Department said Blinken would call for a Syria that is not “a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbours” – a nod to the concerns of Israel and Turkiye.
Since al-Assad’s flight to Russia on Sunday, Israel has attacked Syria hundreds of times, hitting airports, air defence facilities and other infrastructure, and deploying its military to the buffer zone along the occupied Golan Heights separating Syria and Israel since 1974.
Turkiye, for its part, has funded Syrian rebel fighters – known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) – to battle the SDF, pushing the group out of the northeastern city of Manbij.
Istanbul views the force as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has led a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, effectively blacklisting the SDF as a “terrorist” group.
Washington has acknowledged Ankara’s right to defend itself from what it perceives as a security threat, but has also said it will continue working with the SDF.
“Turkey has a real and clear interest, particularly when it comes to the PKK and terrorism, which is an enduring threat to Turkey,” Blinken said. “At the same time, again, we want to avoid sparking any kinds of additional conflicts inside of Syria.”
Blinken’s diplomatic push on Syria comes as leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies issued a statement emphasising that al-Assad should be held accountable for his crimes.
Sullivan says Israel ‘stronger’
In parallel with Blinken’s tour, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was in Jerusalem to meet Israeli leaders on Thursday, before scheduled visits to Qatar and Egypt.
Sullivan said that Israel had emerged “stronger” from more than 14 months of war it launched in response to a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
“We will make sure that Hamas can never threaten Israel in the way it did on October 7, ever,” Sullivan told a news conference at the US embassy in Jerusalem, referring to the date of the attack last year, adding that “the balance of power in the Middle East has changed significantly … Israel is stronger, Iran is weaker, its proxies decimated”.
Both Blinken and Sullivan will be trying to make progress towards a deal to end the 14-month war in Gaza and win the release of the remaining captives held there by Palestinian armed group Hamas.
The Biden administration hopes that the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, combined with the removal of Tehran ally al-Assad could help build momentum towards a Gaza deal after months of unsuccessful diplomacy.
The high-level tours come in the last days of Biden’s presidency, with former President Donald Trump returning to the White House on January 20.
However, it is unclear whether Biden has enough leverage in the region to secure major deals before he leaves office.
Hamas wants an end to the war before the captives are released but Netanyahu has insisted that it reserves the right to carry out military operations. Israel also does not want Hamas to govern Gaza.
Trump warned last week there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if captives held in Gaza were not released before his January inauguration.
On Tuesday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby applied pressure for a deal, saying Hamas was “increasingly isolated” and should realise the “cavalry is not coming to rescue them”.
