Al-Mekdad, who protested Hakan Fidan at the Arab League meeting, takes oath before Assad

Faisal al-Mekdad, the head of the Syrian delegation who protested Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the Arab League meeting, has taken the oath of office as the new Vice President before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian leader Assad had appointed the new government under the premiership of Ghazi al-Jalali last month. Former Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad had been appointed to the position of Vice President. 

According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, Assad met with al-Mekdad following the swearing-in ceremony and gave his new deputy his instructions.

The Syrian delegation led by Faisal al-Mekdad had walked out of the hall during the Arab League meeting in Cairo last month as Hakan Fidan began his speech.

Speaking to the Russian press before the meeting, al-Mekdad had stated, "If Turkey wants to take new steps in cooperation with Syria and normalize relations, it must withdraw from the Arab lands it occupies in the north."