AMMAN: Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi will head to Syria and Turkiye on Wednesday in a “show of solidarity” after the quake that killed thousands of people in both countries, his ministry said.
Jordan, which neighbors Syria, has sent large shipments of aid to both countries with the kingdom sending a medical hospital to Turkiye and organizing several large aid convoys through the country’s northern border crossing with Syria.
Jordan is also dispatching humanitarian aid planes to Syria and Turkiye, while land aid continues to be delivered to Syria, state news agency Petra also reported.
However, the visit by Safadi to Damascus would be the first such trip by a top Jordanian official to Syria since the more than decade-long conflict that devastated Syria and saw both sides take opposing camps.
Staunch US ally Jordan had supported mainstream rebel groups that had sought to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad but later backed Russian-led military campaign that regained southern Syria from rebel control.
“Safadi will discuss the humanitarian and aid needs that the two countries need,” a statement from the foreign ministry said, adding that another aid plane will fly to both countries on Wednesday.
Jordan has criticized Damascus for failing to curb a multi-billion dollar drug smuggling to the Gulf through its borders that Amman blames on Iranian-backed militias who hold sway in southern Syria.
Reuters
