Following in the footsteps of the UAE, Egypt restores relations with Syria to end al-Assad’s international isolation

Egypt and Syria have agreed to strengthen co-operation during the first official visit of a Syrian foreign minister to Cairo in more than a decade, in the latest sign of improved relations between Arab countries and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The beginning was with the United Arab Emirates, which welcomed Al-Assad last month.

First official flight

Syrian Foreign Minister Fayçal al-Meqdad received his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on his arrival at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on the first official trip since before the uprising and the conflict began in Syria in 2011.

Many Western and Arab countries have shunned Assad over the war in Syria that has divided the country and left hundreds of thousands dead.

“The ministers agreed to intensify communication channels between the two countries at various levels in the coming period,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement, while reiterating Egypt’s support for “a comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis as soon as possible.”

An Egyptian security source, who asked not to be named, said: The visit aims to put steps for Syria’s return to the Arab League through Egyptian and Saudi mediation.

According to the International Newspaper, the Cairo-based Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in 2011 and many Arab countries withdrew their envoys from Damascus. Some countries, including the United States and Qatar, opposed restoring relations with al-Assad, citing the need to see progress toward a political solution in Syria.

Shoukry visited Syria and Turkey in February after the devastating earthquake there and on Saturday repeated his pledge of support for their victims.

The Egyptian foreign ministry released pictures of Shoukry warmly greeting al-Meqdad at the foreign ministry on the banks of the Nile as well as in bilateral talks and leading a wider discussion.

Ending Syria’s Isolation

The Israeli “I24” network believed that the directives of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to restore relations with Syria would end their isolation on the international scene, which lasted for more than a decade, where civil conflicts worsened and turned into a long-term civil war.

It continued: Over the years, many Egyptian figures have urged the government of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to restore relations with the government of al-Assad, and have insisted on the return of Syria to the Arab League, from which it has now been suspended. In recent years, several Arab countries have begun to restore relations with Damascus after the regime regained control of most of the country, and after the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February, many capitals intensified efforts to normalize relations with Damascus, a number of Arab countries sent senior officials and sent aid in solidarity with Syria and Turkey, where al-Assad recently paid visits the United Arab Emirates and Oman.