Turkish spy chief makes symbolic visit to pray in Damascus after Assad’s fall

Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin has visited Damascus, for what the Syrian information ministry said would be talks involving its new rebel leadership.

The ministry said that Kalin and Qatar's head of state security, Khalfan al-Kaabi, arrived in the capital to meet with Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and caretaker prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir.

Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani, leads the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former affiliate of al Qaeda, that spearheaded the overthrow of Assad.

In a highly symbolic visit, Kalin was seen arriving at the Umayyad Mosque to pray, with heavy security, surrounded by a large crowd, according to video shown on Turkish television.

Turkish officials, who supported the opposition against Syria's government, had predicted at the start of the civil war in 2011 that President Bashar...