Al-Assad family

Eight European Union member-states, including Greece, have launched a diplomatic initiative to establish informal communication channels between the EU and Bashar al-Assad's Syrian administration.

Türkiye's National Security Council (MGK) reiterated on Thursday that clearing Syrian territory of separatist terrorists would foremost safeguard Syria's interests and ensure lasting peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Moscow, the Kremlin announced on Thursday.

In the talks, the first since March 2023, Putin highlighted his concerns over the situation in the Middle East, which he said was "tending to escalate," in opening remarks between the pair which were aired on state television on Thursday.

Turkey will extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbors, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed openness to restoring diplomatic relations with Syria, following a call from his counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, for improved ties between the nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin where they discussed the political situation in Syria, international terrorism as well as issues of bilateral and humanitarian cooperation. The details about the meeting held on September 13 were published on the Russian leader's website on Tuesday.

President Bashar al-Assad took the oath of office for a fourth term in war-ravaged Syria on July 17, after officially winning 95 percent of the vote in an election dismissed abroad.

It was the second presidential poll since the start of a decade-long civil war that has killed almost half a million people and battered the country's infrastructure.

Syrian politician Ammar Haidar, imprisoned by the Bashar Assad regime in 2009, reunited with his daughter Marwa Haidar in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul after 12 years.

Born in Hama, Syria, Haidar, since his youth, has opposed the Assad family due to their anti-democratic practices.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected for a fourth seven-year term in a presidential election on Wednesday dismissed by the opposition as a sham, news wires reported. Al-Assad won 95.1% of the valid votes, head of the Syrian parliament Hamoud Sabagh said. Some 78.6% of eligible voters cast ballots inside and outside Syria, Sabagh added at a press conference in Damascus.

Candidate for the post of President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad and his wife cast their votes at a polling station in the Municipality Council of Douma city in Damascus countryside.