Turkish authorities have issued a decision allowing citizens of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Yemen, and Palestine to cross the land border checkpoints with Syria according to the existing visa system in Turkey, without the need for additional prior permission.
Mazen Aloush, Director of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation at the General Authority of Syrian Border Crossings and Customs, explained that Syrian citizens holding foreign nationality can now leave Syria through any of the land border crossings with Turkey for transit to their country of residence, regardless of how they entered Syria, whether through border crossings with Turkey or other neighboring countries, or through Syrian airports.
Aloush noted that the Turkish side at the crossings opposite to the ‘Salameh’, ‘Al-Rai’, and ‘Tal Abyad’ checkpoints requires Syrian citizens with foreign nationality — except for Turkish nationality — to present a valid Syrian passport upon departure, ensuring that their personal data matches that of their foreign passport. This is a condition for allowing them to leave.
The Syrian official highlighted that all the mentioned decisions and instructions are issued by Turkish authorities and are subject to modification or cancellation at any time without prior notice, with the possibility of differing implementation mechanisms from one checkpoint to another.