New Syrian leadership asks Turkey to supply identity cards, passports

Syria has new leadership following 13 years of civil war and it will get new identity cards and passports supplied by a major backer of the opposition.

Syrian opposition toppled the brutal leadership of the Assad family in early December, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa who is now the country’s de facto leader. Sharaa commanded the most powerful rebel force, known as Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is supported by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.

Turkey will now assist Syria in producing official documents, reports Turkiye Today, which include passports, identity cards and driver’s licenses. This follows a formal request from Syria’s new administration. Turkish officials said document production will be along the same lines as the country’s own chip-based passport, ID and driver’s license, ensuring the documents meet international security and identification standards.

Turkey is among the leaders in biometric passports and payment cards, and is printing biometric passports for Hungary and France after officials announced the deal in September 2024. This is in addition to printing new biometric passports for its own citizens, of which there were around 1.6 million applications. Turkey is also getting contactless fingerprint biometric payment cards, certified by Mastercard, and rolled out by Fingerprint Cards in collaboration with Thales.

Syria’s new leadership is considering extending the validity of passports for its citizens living abroad, reports Middle East Monitor. An official from Sharaa’s administration instructed the consular and Expatriate Affairs Department to provide the best possible consular services to expatriates, address their complaints, and authenticate all documents for free until new regulations are issued.

Since conflict began in 2011 more than 14 million Syrians have been displaced, with around 6.4 million Syrians finding refuge in countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Germany, Jordan and Egypt, among others. Displaced Syrians have been reported to be considering returning to their homeland following the fall of Assad’s regime, although many questions remain over the new administration.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  driver's license  |  identity document  |  Syria  |  Turkiye