TCG Istanbul, a frigate of the Turkish navy, made a port visit to Syria’s Latakia on Monday, the Ministry of National Defense announced. Aboard it was Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, head of the Turkish Naval Forces Command.
The ministry said it was the first time the navy visited neighboring Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime in 2024.
Latakia has long been a stronghold of Bashar Assad, an avowed enemy of Türkiye, which sought diplomacy with the Assad regime in the first years of the civil war to end the conflict.
After forces led by incumbent President Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew the Baathist regime, Türkiye rekindled relations with Syria, pledging to help with its rebuilding.
Last week, an engineering brigade of the Turkish army set up a 240-meter-long floating bridge on a part of the Euphrates River in Syria’s Deir Az-Zour.
