Syria’s new interim leader, meeting on Tuesday with the president of Turkey, thanked him for backing the rebel forces that toppled the Assad dictatorship and said he now sought

Their meeting was the first since the former rebel leader led the offensive that last month toppled Syria’s former autocratic ruler, Bashar al-Assad.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syria’s newly appointed President Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed deepened security ties – including a response to Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria – during a meeting in Ankara.