Syrian Arab Republic welcomes re-activation of its frozen OIC membership after 13 years

CAIRO: The Syrian Arab Republic welcomed on early Saturday the re-activation of its membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) after it was frozen for 13 years, the foreign ministry said. 

Syria's membership frozen since 2012, was re-activated during a meeting of the 57-member group at the organization's headquarters in Jeddah on Friday, a Turkish diplomatic source said.

The source said the initiative put forth by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to re-activate Syria’s membership was accepted.

A statement posted on the OIC website highlighted Syria's membership as one of the topics in the discussion of the "extraordinary ministerial" meeting at the organization's headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but did not mention how the meeting turned out.

In his opening statenment, OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha said the initiative to include an item on Syria on the agenda of the session comes at an appropriate time. 

In December, Syrian opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) toppled Bashar Assad after an 11-year civil war, ending his five-decade rule. 

Syria’s new government has since sought to rebuild ties with Arab nations, Western powers, and others.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani was called into the meeting to take Syria’s seat after the vote, the source said. A video shared by Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry showed members applauding as the minister entered the room.

NATO member Turkiye has backed rebels looking to oust Assad for years. It is a close ally and supporter of the new government in Damascus, vowing to help rebuild the country and help them train their armed forces.

Last month, Syria’s new President Ahmed Al-Sharaa received an invitation from Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to participate in an Arab League summit in Cairo, a major step in rebuilding ties with the Arab world after Assad’s downfall.