Syria's al Sharaa arrives in Azerbaijan for 1st official visit

Azerbaijan is 10th stop on al Sharaa’s diplomatic tour since taking office on January 29. Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa arrived in Azerbaijan on Saturday for his first official visit to the country since taking office earlier this year, according to Syria’s official news agency SANA and Azerbaijan’s state-run AZERTAC. While neither agency disclosed the duration or full agenda of the visit, it marks another stop in al Sharaa’s diplomatic tour that began following his appointment on January 29. Since assuming office, he has visited Türkiye, France, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. A transitional administration led by al Sharaa was formed in Syria in January following the fall of the regime of Bashar al Assad. Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December, ending the Baath Party’s decades-long grip on power that began in 1963.