Two days after returning from Turkey, where he took part in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Syria’s transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, traveled to Saudi Arabia. The visit forms part of a broader Gulf tour intended, according to informed sources, to promote an overland transit corridor linking Turkey to the Gulf through Syrian territory. The initiative seeks to exploit the current disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed amid the U.S.–Israeli confrontation with Iran. Sharaa began his visit in Jeddah, where he was received by the Deputy Governor of the Makkah Region, Prince Saud bin Mishal bin Abdulaziz, ahead of a scheduled meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The tour highlights the transitional president’s drive to secure long-awaited Gulf investment. His efforts build on groundwork laid by the U.S. Special Envoy to Syria, Thomas Barrack, who has advocated using Syria’s geography to channel Gulf oil to the Mediterranean via pipelines terminating on the Syrian coast—an alternative to the Hormuz chokepoint. Sharaa has revived the “Linkage of the Seas” concept, an updated iteration of earlier visions advanced by former President Bashar al-Assad (the Five Seas) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (the Four Seas). In theory, the project offers Syria and Turkey substantial investment potential by positioning Turkey as the principal land bridge between the Gulf and Europe.
The feasibility of such an undertaking remains uncertain. It would require colossal infrastructure spending, credible security guarantees for pipeline routes, and seamless transit arrangements through Jordan. Even so, Sharaa’s visit unfolds against the backdrop of broad Saudi endorsement and unprecedented political support for the transitional authorities. This backing—coordinated closely with Washington—helped pave the way for lifting sanctions on Syria and announcing hundreds of investment projects. Yet most of these projects remain little more than promises on paper. The absence of an enabling environment, from basic security to a stable legal framework, continues to impede progress. Syria still operates without a permanent constitution and lacks a functioning People’s Assembly. As a result, doubts persist about the transitional leadership’s capacity to deliver, especially as it appears to be constructing a closed governance structure and consolidating control over national assets through sovereign and investment funds that sit above the formal government.
Beyond the economic portfolio, which remains central to the administration’s consolidation of authority, other files dominate the dialogue between Damascus, Riyadh, and the wider Gulf. Chief among them are the situation in Lebanon and the Syrian–Israeli security arrangement currently frozen by Tel Aviv. Sharaa remains intent on finalizing this agreement. At the Antalya Forum, he argued that it provides the stability required to attract investment to a country battered by economic collapse and the long aftermath of war.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
