In most capitals across the Middle East, the news of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fall sparked immense anxiety. Ankara is not one of them. Rather than worrying about Syria’s prospects after more than a decade of conflict,

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan discussed on Friday the need for continued efforts to counter any resurgence of Islamic State in Syria following the fall of Bashar-al Assad.

After the regime change in Damascus, while Israel was invading Syria and destroying its defense infrastructure, Blinken visited Turkey and Turkish intelligence chief Kalın went to Damascus to meet with HTS leader al-Jolani.