Syria denies officials held ‘secret’ talks with Hezbollah in Turkiye

What the report says

Syria’s Ministry of Information has denied a Reuters report that government representatives held secret talks with Hezbollah in Turkiye in September. In statements posted on X, the ministry called the claims false, and Turkiye also rejected the report as baseless. The denial came after Reuters cited six unnamed sources from Syria, the United States and Lebanon who said the reported meeting was intended to ease tensions.

According to Reuters, the alleged encounter would have been the first publicly reported direct contact between Syria’s new leadership and Hezbollah, a group that has long fought on the side of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The report said the discussion involved Syrian intelligence and Foreign Ministry officials, along with Hezbollah representatives, and was said to have been brokered by Turkish security and intelligence agencies.

The Reuters account said the sides discussed reducing friction and preventing escalation along the Syria-Lebanon border. A Syrian official was quoted in the report as saying Damascus would not intervene militarily in Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, while Syrian authorities also asked the group to help curb cross-border smuggling and dismantle remaining sleeper cells in southern Syria. Reuters said the contact was described as part of broader efforts to manage regional tensions, though it could not verify the location or duration of any meeting.