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Phosphate and power ties
Türkiye and Syria signed a phosphate cooperation memorandum in Damascus on Wednesday, with the framework covering phosphate production, mining-site development and related transport infrastructure.
“signed in Damascus on Wednesday”
Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the project would include “the construction of a railway extending to the port,” and he described the agreement as “a very good beginning.”
Bayraktar also tied the mining deal to electricity exports, saying that with the Birecik-Aleppo transmission line expected to become operational in the coming weeks, Türkiye would nearly triple exports and reach 800 to 900 megawatts.
Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al Bashir said the transmission line was planned to enter service by the end of September and was expected to supply around 500 megawatts to Aleppo and surrounding areas.
The phosphate agreement, Bayraktar said, would lay the foundation for broader mining cooperation, including plans to establish sulphuric and phosphoric acid production facilities and rehabilitate Syria’s phosphate transport fleet.
Oil and gas readiness
At the same joint press conference in Damascus, Bayraktar said Türkiye was ready to cooperate with Syria in oil and natural gas exploration, including in offshore areas and existing onshore fields where production could be increased or new reserves discovered.
Bayraktar added that “Turkish Petroleum was prepared to conduct seismic surveys and drilling operations in partnership with Syrian and international companies,” and he said Türkiye had gained offshore exploration experience through discoveries in the Black Sea and operations in Somalia.
Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said the transmission line would help stabilise energy supplies and improve public services, particularly electricity provision, while the phosphate agreement would support broader mining cooperation.
Anadolu Ajansı reported that President Bashar al-Assad met Bayraktar at the People’s Palace in Damascus, with the statement saying the meeting covered ways to boost cooperation and partnership in the energy sector.
The Anadolu Ajansı account also said Bayraktar and al-Bashir witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the phosphate field, aiming to expand partnership in the energy and mining sectors.
IAEA nuclear safeguards
Separate from the energy and mining cooperation, Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Al-Shaiabani said at a joint press conference with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in Damascus that nuclear material found at an undetermined site in Syria was not dangerous and “will remain under Syrian custody.”
“will remain under Syrian custody”
Al-Shaiabani said Syria granted IAEA inspectors access to the Deir al-Zour facility in the country’s east by a “sovereign decision,” and he described transparency as a “choice” while committing to greater cooperation with the agency.
The same account said the statements came roughly a week after Axios reported that Washington had negotiated an agreement for the IAEA to remove nuclear material stored at a clandestine Syrian facility both governments call “Site 99.”
The article further stated that the file traces back to an undeclared reactor Syria allegedly built, with North Korean assistance, at Deir al-Zour, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in 2007.
It also said the IAEA Board of Governors determined in 2011 that Damascus was failing to meet its obligations, and that in 2024 the now former Syrian president explored with Grossi ways of cooperating for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
