On August 3, 2025, the Syrian Ministry of Economy and Industry announced the formation of the Syrian-Turkish Business Council. This step represents a new development in the nature of the economic partnership between Syria and Turkey, and opens a serious discussion about reshaping Syria’s commercial identity and ways to manage regional transformations to ensure economic sovereignty and development justice.
We, in the Syrian Future Movement, believe that the national economy is one of the pillars of stability and sovereignty. We emphasize the importance of establishing a participatory economic foundation in the post-conflict phase.
We also emphasize that the formation of this council represents an opportunity to rebuild trade relations on new foundations, free from exclusion and polarization. We see it as an opportunity to affirm that partnership must be based on:
- Integration of interests, not subordination.
- Equitable commercial representation for all Syrian regions, including the north, south, and interior.
- Transparency in the council’s membership and decision-making mechanisms, without exclusivity or factional monopoly.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes the need to align partnerships with independent national development goals. We also value any effort to build economic partnerships with neighboring countries, provided that:
- These partnerships do not establish unequal equations that undermine efforts to rebuild the Syrian national economy.
- Trade crossings do not become tools for geographic engineering or the empowerment of local authorities not subject to institutional oversight.
- These initiatives must not marginalize local productive sectors, particularly agriculture and small industries.
The Syrian Future Movement calls for the new Economic Council to be viewed as a prelude to reformulating the Syrian regional partnership model, which must be characterized by:
- Cautious openness that does not compromise economic sovereignty.
- Local partnership through the integration of chambers of commerce, workers, and professionals.
- A legal and oversight framework to avoid laxity and legal duplication in crossings, fees, and policies.
The Syrian Future Movement calls for a participatory public and professional debate on:
- Syria’s priorities in regional partnerships, whether with Türkiye or others.
- The relationship of these partnerships to the economic recovery and reconstruction agenda.
- Methods for protecting local resources from commercial depletion or sectoral dependency.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that rebuilding the Syrian economy cannot be achieved solely through trade agreements, but rather through establishing a fair, productive, and participatory development model that consolidates sovereignty and restores trust between the state and society.
Therefore, we view the formation of the Syrian-Turkish Business Council as a good start. We demand that this council’s representation be democratic, professional, and reflective of geographic and institutional diversity. We also demand that accountability and transparency mechanisms be ensured in its performance, serving the interests of all Syrians, not just a particular elite or group.
