During his three-day Middle East tour, US President Donald Trump announced that US sanctions on Damascus will be lifted. The news was met with celebrations as many Syrians took to the streets, honking their cars and waving flags across the country from the capital Damascus to Homs.

“The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important — really an important function — nevertheless, at the time. But now it’s their time to shine,” said Trump, urging Syrian leadership to show something “very special.” 

Syria had been under severe Western sanctions since 2011, the start of the country’s civil war, which displaced nearly half its population and killed more than 500,000 people under the former Assad regime. 

Syria now has a chance to integrate into the international system following President Donald Trump’s groundbreaking decision to end the US embargo on the Middle Eastern country, says a senior adviser to a leading Turkish financial monitory authority, requesting anonymity as professional protocol.

“This is a historic moment. The lifting of sanctions was a rightful demand of the Syrian people who brought down the regime. These measures were originally imposed against the regime, and they should have been lifted with its fall,” says Omar Alhariri, a Daraa-based Syrian journalist.

Trump’s decision to lift Syria sanctions came during his high-profile Middle East tour, which included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. During his stop in Riyadh, Trump made a surprising move by meeting Syrian President Ahmed Alshaara. Since the Bill Clinton–Hafez al Assad meeting in 2000, no US president had met with a Syrian leader in the last 25 years.

Since the oust of the Baath regime in December 2024, Alsharaa has gained international legitimacy, marked by lifted US bounties and high-level meetings abroad. The government under Alsharaa has been positioning itself as moderate, distancing itself from extremist groups and promising cooperation on counterterrorism and minority rights.

Trump said that his decision on sanctions and the Alshaara meeting was encouraged by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“Today, we stand before a unique opportunity, and there is a sense of excitement and hope as people look forward to shaping Syria’s future. It is also important to express deep gratitude to both Saudi Arabia and Türkiye for their significant roles in making this moment possible,” Alhariri tells TRT World.

In exchange for lifting sanctions on Syria, President Trump demanded that the Syrian president join the Abraham Accords, normalise relations with Israel, and deport foreign fighters and Palestinian groups from the country, the White House said.

“Will bring financial and social capital back”

A sanction-free Syria is “definitely a positive step” for this key Middle Eastern state, the adviser quoted above tells TRT World, adding that Trump’s decision will have “a signal impact” across the globe, leading many displaced citizens to return to their home countries, potentially contributing to the country’s economic growth. 

From 2010 to 2023, under Western sanctions and amid civil war, Syria’s GDP is estimated to have contracted by 84 percent, as unemployment and poverty devastated the country. According to UN estimates, in 2022, nearly 90 percent of Syrians lived in poverty.

Mehmet Babacan, a professor of economics at Marmara University who has worked in various capacities involving Turkish central bank policies, sees many potential benefits in Trump’s decision to make Syria a sanction-free state in terms of the country’s financial system and future development.

Prior to Trump’s move, the UK and EU had removed some sanctions on Syria. Many expect the US president’s decision will lead to the dismantling of the broader international embargo on Damascus.

“The removal of the international embargo on Syria will facilitate the country’s access to international markets, helping address its debt obligations from the past and reestablish its ties with international organisations” like the World Bank, Babacan tells TRT World.

Among others, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank can play a critical role in boosting economic growth and reconstruction efforts, according to Babacan.

In macroeconomic terms, a sanctions-free Syria’s currency will have a better future as the country will be able to get economic aid and credits from both international groups and foreign states, which can also have positive impacts on ensuring price stability in the long term, according to Babacan. 

Beyond gaining access to international financial organisations like the IMF and World Bank, Syria can also work to reach bilateral trade agreements with other countries, says the Turkish economist. In this perspective, European states and Türkiye will have critical roles in improving Syria’s economic outlook, he adds.

“A demographic return to Syria will also have a multiplier positive effect on the country’s economic structure as many young Syrians left due to the civil war and political suppression under the Assad regime,” says Babacan. 

“Their return means Syria’s deeper integration into regional states like Türkiye, home to the largest displaced Syrian population for over a decade, as well as Lebanon, Iraq, and European countries where substantial migration occurred during the war.”

This also brings their financial and social capital back into Syria, increasing investment and production in the war-torn nation, boosting both GDP and per capita income, says the professor.

With the news of Trump’s sanctions decision, the Syrian pound gained against the dollar.