More than 50,000 Syrian refugees have left Turkey to return home since Bashar al-Assad's ouster. "Now he's gone, many are willing to return but the Syria they left is not the same place," he told AFP.

Turkey has emerged as one of the most influential power brokers in Syria after rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad last month, ending his family's brutal five-decade rule.

No country has as much to gain from a stable Syria as Turkey, and few have as much to lose if it implodes. Turkey is home to more than 3m Syrian refugees, and wants Syria to be safe enough for many to return.

Assad, Turkey has become a vital power broker in Syria, with significant diplomatic, economic, and military influence. The country aims to leverage this to strengthen trade, cooperation, and address national security concerns related to Kurdish groups along its border.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for an inclusive transition in Syria after the fall of leader Bashar al-Assad, in a call with powerbroker Turkey, the State Department said Thursday.

Syria will never allow its territory to be used as a staging ground for threats against Turkey, its top diplomat said Wednesday after talks in Ankara.

Turkey and Syria have agreed to reevaluate customs tariffs for certain products and they discussed economic and trade relations during meetings in Damascus, the Turkish trade ministry said on Friday.

The new administration’s first visit to Ankara comes amid an intensifying struggle for the partition of Syria between the states behind the overthrow of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by jihadists led by the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

President Erdogan declared Turkey's readiness to combat all terrorists in Syria, including IS and Kurdish groups. He urged nations to leave Syria's fate to its new regime, and warned of possible Turkish military action against the Kurdish YPG militia if demands are not met.

Turkey has its eye on hundreds of billions of dollars of rebuilding contracts in Syria and elsewhere in the region.

The summer home of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad was once off-limits to ordinary Syrians. Now people are lining up to visit and wandering around the rooms — which are empty after being looted.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Iraq on Sunday for talks with officials on the fight against Kurdish militants, security issues and bilateral ties, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Saturday.