Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) praised the US Ambassador to Turkey and Syrian envoy, Tom Barrack, for facilitating a "historic" prisoner exchange between the Syrian government and the Druze people.
In December 2024, the longstanding Ba'athist regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed, concluding the decade-long Syrian Civil War. A new government, led by interim President and ex-jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa, has formed, but sectarian violence between the Druze and Sunni jihadists loyal to al-Shaara has continually flared.
However, Ambassador Barrack recently facilitated a prisoner exchange of 25 government troops and 61 Druze militants, which took place in Matuna, which is in northern Syria.
A social media post by the Syrian Arab News Agency, translated from Arabic, describes the exchange as "Syrian #InternalSecurity forces, in cooperation with the military police, begin transferring 61 detainees from the sons of #Suwayda Governorate to the Matuna checkpoint in the northern countryside of the governorate," which was supervised by the International Red Cross.
Rep. Hamadeh praised Barrack in an X post, writing, "Thank you, @USAMBTurkiye, for your work to secure this historic prisoner exchange between the Syrian government and the Druze."
"It is in the United States’ interest to see Syria succeed: to promote peace, prosperity, and reconciliation," Rep. Hamadeh continued, praising "Ambassador Tom Barrack’s leadership."
In August, the Arizona congressman met with al-Shaara and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, which was notably the first time an American representative was shuttled from Jerusalem to Damascus in years.
In addition to discussing Syria's agenda of establishing a secure corridor to deliver humanitarian and medical aid to the city of Suwayda, normalizing relations with Israel and joining the Abraham Accords, and ensuring lasting peace between the various ethnic and religious groups in Syria such as Christians, Druze, Alawites, and Kurds, Hamadeh secured the remains of Kayla Mueller, an Arizona woman murdered by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2013.
