Turkiye says Damascus embassy to be 'operational' Saturday

Ankara: Turkiye said Friday its long closed Damascus embassy would reopen on Saturday, with its new interim envoy and staff already dispatched to Syri...

Ankara: Turkiye said Friday its long-closed Damascus embassy would reopen on Saturday, with its new interim envoy and staff already dispatched to Syria earlier in the day.

The new charge d'affairs, Burhan Koroglu, and his staff "left today, the embassy will be operational tomorrow," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told NTV private television.

Earlier this week, Fidan had said Ankara would reopen its embassy when the conditions were right, just days after a lightning rebel offensive overthrew Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.

Koroglu was appointed to the temporary post on Thursday, state news agency Anadolou said, quoting foreign ministry sources who did not say when he would begin the job.

The Damascus embassy closed on March 26, 2012, a year after Syria's civil war began, due to the deteriorating security situation amid calls by the Turkish government for Assad to step down.