Turkey is determined to expand its influence in the new Syria

ASAAD AL-SHAIBANI’s professors were puzzled when the postgraduate student, a Syrian refugee, told them in November that he would have to miss a few classes. A few weeks later, Mr al-Shaibani resurfaced in Damascus in the cabinet of Syria’s new interim government. On January 15th he made an official visit to Turkey, where he had lived for over a decade, as Syria’s new foreign minister.