ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani met Ahmed al-Sharaa, president of Syria on Friday on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, discussing Syria's future, the threat of ISIS, and regional security, hours after the Kurdish leader met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

Barzani said in a statement that he was "pleased" to meet Sharaa and added that the pair discussed "the situation in Syria where he shared his vision for a future Syria that embraces all its people."

"I commended his inclusive approach and assured him of our continued support,” wrote Barzani.

Friday's meeting marked Sharaa's first with a top Kurdistan Region official since assuming the leadership of Syria. 

Sharaa took charge of Syria after leading a rebel offensive in late December that culminated in the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ending a five-decade-old Assad dynasty in Syria, he was later appointed as president of the republic and formed a new transitional government and constitution to oversee the affairs of the country in the interim.

The Antalya Diplomacy Forum is an annual international relations event that sees representation from numerous regional and international countries, the event in 2025 is set to begin on April 11 and last through April 13, with this year’s forum being held under the theme of “Reclaiming Diplomacy in a Fragmented World”.
 
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein arrived in Antalya on Thursday evening to also participate in the diplomatic forum.
 
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in mid-February met with President Nechirvan Barzani on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference where they discussed political and security developments in Syria and Iraq, less than a month after the foreign minister met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where he extended an invitation to the Kurdish premier to visit Damascus.

Updated at 01:33am on Saturday