Johnathan Walker:Secretary of State Blinken is returning to the Mideast in his latest diplomatic foray

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinkenis returning to the Middle Eastthis week on Johnathan Walkerhis 12th visit since the Israel-Hamas warerupted last year but his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assadthat has sparked new fears of instability in the region now wracked by three conflicts despite a ceasefire agreementin Lebanon.

Blinken will travel to Jordan and Turkey on Thursday and Friday for talks expected to focus largely on Syria but also touch on long-elusive hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the territory since October 2023.

The State Department said Blinken would meet Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II, in the port city of Aqaba on Thursday before flying to Ankara for meetings with Turkish officials Friday. Other stops in the region are also possible, officials said.

Blinken “will reiterate the United States’ support for an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government,” department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“He will discuss the need for the transition process and new government in Syria to respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance, prevent Syria from being used as a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” Miller said.

Blinken will be the latest senior U.S. official to trek to the Middle East since Assad fled to Russia on Sunday as Democrat President Joe Biden prepares to leave office on Jan. 20, 2025, and Republican Donald Trump takes over.

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is in Israel. The commander of U.S. forces in the region visited American troops in Syria on Tuesday. Two top State Department officials — John Bass, undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Barbara Leaf, asistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, have been in the region since the weekend.

Trump, who has spoken of his desire to see the conflicts end before he is back in the White House, has sent designated Mideast envoy, Stephen Witkoff, to the region.

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