Syria’s new President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, will travel to the United Arab Emirates for the first time and is also set to visit Turkey next week, the Syrian foreign ministry said on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Sharaa had earlier visited Turkey in February and also made a trip to Saudi Arabia that month — his first official foreign visit since taking office in January.

Sharaa became president after Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a sudden offensive last December, led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which Sharaa is part of. Since then, the new leadership has been trying to build stronger ties with both Arab countries and Western governments.

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