Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbours and securing the return of the Golan Heights, have been the primary goals of the Syrian Arab Republic's foreign policy. At many points in its history, Syria has seen tension with its neighbours, such as Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Syria enjoyed an improvement in relations with several of the states in its region in the 21st century, prior to the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War. Since the ongoing civil war, the Syrian Arab Republic's government was increasingly isolated from the countries in the region and the wider international community until 2018. Diplomatic relations were severed with several countries including: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Mexico, Qatar and Ukraine. Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in 2012. Syria continues to foster good relations with its traditional allies, Iran and Russia. Other countries that presently maintain good relations with Syria include China, Japan, North Korea, Vietnam, Fiji, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia Brunei, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Greece, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Vatican City and Belarus. Syria does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, but has diplomatic relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Syria also maintains relations with autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. On 26 February 2023, Bashar al-Assad had met with Iraqi, Jordanian, Palestinian, Libyan, Egyptian and Emirati lawmakers, as well as representatives from Oman and Lebanon after more than a decade of isolation in the region. Arab states contributed significantly to the relief effort after the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake. A week before, Al-Assad travelled to Oman for his first foreign visit since the quake. Bilateral relations Africa Syria has relations with Angola, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Americas Syria has diplomatic relations with most Central and South American countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. Asia Syria's relations with the Arab world were strained by its support for Iran during the Iran–Iraq War, which