Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will head to New York tomorrow, Monday, to participate in the United Nations General Assembly meetings. He is the first Syrian president since 1967.
The Presidency's media office stated that "President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Ahmad al-Shara, is heading to the United States of America to participate in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York."
Damascus had previously announced that Shara's participation in the UN meetings would make him the first Syrian president to speak at the UN podium since the June 1967 war with Israel.
Since the 1967 war and Syria's loss of the Golan Heights to Israel, Damascus has taken a hardline stance against international institutions, especially the United Nations, considering them biased toward Israel due to American and Western support.
Therefore, no Syrian president since former President Noureddine al-Atassi (1966-1970) has participated in the United Nations General Assembly meetings at the summit level.
On December 8, 2024, Syrian factions completed their control of the country, ending 61 years of Ba'ath regime rule, including 53 years of Assad family rule.
Since 1967, Israel has occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights. Taking advantage of the new situation following the overthrow of Assad, it occupied the Syrian buffer zone and declared the collapse of the disengagement agreement between the two sides in 1974.
