Turkey taps Nuh Yilmaz as first ambassador to Syria in 13 years
Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz will be Turkey’s first ambassador in Damascus since his predecessor's withdrawal more than a decade ago.
ANKARA — Turkey has named Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz as its new ambassador to Syria, a Turkish diplomatic source told Al-Monitor, the first such posting since 2012, when Ankara and Damascus severed ties over the Syrian civil war.
Who is Yilmaz: Serving at the Foreign Ministry since May 2024, Yilmaz has played a key role in high-level Syria-related diplomacy, participating in most of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s meetings with Syrian officials in Ankara as well as Damascus.
Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus soon after the ouster of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December. Ankara held off on naming an ambassador, however, citing concerns over the role of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist militia led by Ahmed al-Sharaa that spearheaded the offensive to overthrown Assad.
Why it matters: For Ankara, long the closest foreign backer of forces opposing Assad during the civil war, the ambassadorial appointment marks the reestablishment of full diplomatic relations with Syria.
The formation of a new Syrian government under Sharaa as president and his sidelining of HTS cleared the way for Turkey to appoint Yilmaz.
Charge d'affaires Burhan Koroglu had been the highest-ranking Turkish official in Syria during the absence of an ambassador.
Yilmaz will officially take up his post in Damascus after the appointment's publication in the Official Gazette in the coming days.
Know more: Between 2008 and 2011, Yilmaz served as the founding director of SETA's Washington, DC, office, focusing on US-Turkish relations and Turkish foreign policy.
Prior to his position at the Foreign Ministry, Yilmaz spent roughly a decade at Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT), where he had various roles, including press adviser and head of the Strategic Analysis Department as well as director of MIT’s Talent Center, according to his bio at TRT World Forum, an international platform by Turkey's public broadcaster, TRT.
Yilmaz holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Ankara’s Middle East Technical University and a PhD in from the Yildirim Beyazit University.
