Syria Conflict

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Kobane speaks during a press conference in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on Dec. 6, 2024.

Explainer

SDF chief Kobane’s Damascus visit a high wire act for Syria’s Kurds

The SDF says its integration with Damascus is complete, but major questions remain over its fighters, weapons and the future of Kurdish self-rule.

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 08: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) meets with Ahmed al-Sharaa, President of Syria (L) for bilateral talks at Beştepe Presidential Compound during the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

US lifts Syria's terror designation after 47 years

The Trump administration also took Hayat Tahrir al-Sham off its blacklist of Specially Designated Global Terrorist organizations.

A Turkish soldier from the 1st Border Regiment Command looks out over the border wall to Syria during alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey.

Analysis

Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact

Ankara views Israel’s latest strikes in Syria as part of a broader effort to curb Turkey’s military influence in Damascus and a challenge to its regional defense partnerships.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey/Syria border

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

As Washington pushes a new deconfliction mechanism between Turkey and Israel, the Jewish state shows little incentive to accept tighter constraints on its freedom of action in Syria, experts say.

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

Latest News

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Turkey signals restraint as war of words with Israel escalates over Syria

Burhaanettin Duran

Syria’s FM pays Pakistan first visit in 19 years amid new regional alignments

Islamabad

Turkey looks to expand Syria energy footprint into oil, gas

President Ahmad al-Sharaa meets Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar at the People’s Palace in Damascus, Syria, on Aug. 19, 2026.

After breaches, UN Security Council urges Libya’s backers to respect arms embargo

The council also called for a cease-fire and extended the UN mission in Libya by another 12 months.

Iraq, counter-IS coalition kill, capture Islamic State figures

The US-led anti-IS coalition provided helicopter transport for the Iraqi raid in al-Rutba.

Egypt rallies Arab League to counter Turkey's regional policies

Egypt called on Arab countries to adopt a unified policy to deter the Turkish interference in the Arab region, especially in Libya, Syria and Iraq.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on February 21, 2020 shows
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a Keep America Great rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 19, 2020.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a ceremony in Jerusalem on January 23, 2020 commemorating the people of Leningrad during the Second World War Nazi siege on the city. - President Donald Trump on february 21, 2020 dismissed reported warnings by US intelligence that Russia is meddling in this year's

How a second Trump term could shift Russia’s stance on Syria

Bahrain, UAE peace deals compel Palestinian rethink on strategy.

United Arab Emirates

SHANKSVILLE, PA - SEPTEMBER 11: Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Bidenand his wife, Jill, greet family members of victims after laying a wreath in front of her brother, Leroy Homers name at the Wall of Names following a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial commemorating the 19th Anniversary of the crash of Flight 93 and the September 11th terrorist attacks on September 11, 2020 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The nation is marking the nineteenth anniversary of the terror at

Biden endorses lower troop levels in Iraq, fight against IS in interview

Joe Biden told Stars and Stripes he wants to stop "forever wars" but keep some troops in Iraq and Syria. His opponent, Donald Trump, also pledges to withdraw more troops.

An image grab shows on November 20, 2019 a ball of fire during a reported Israeli air strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. - The Israeli army confirmed that it carried out strikes against military sites in Damascus today, in response to rocket fire from Syria the previous day. "We just carried out wide-scale strikes of Iranian Quds Force & Syrian Armed Forces targets in Syria in response to the rockets fired at Israel by an Iranian force in Syria," the Israel Defense Forces tweeted. Syria

Israeli warplanes target Aleppo countryside, says Syria

The Syrian state press blamed Israel for a round of airstrikes targeting its military facilities in the eastern Aleppo countryside.

Turkish anti-riot police officers run as Kurds protest against Turkish military operation in Syria, in Istanbul, on October 13, 2019. - Fighting has engulfed the border area in northeastern Syria since Turkey launched an offensive on October 9 to push back the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), displacing 130,000 people so far according to the United Nations, amidst warnings from aid groups of another humanitarian disaster in Syria's eight-year-old war if the offensive is not halted. (Photo by Yasi

For Syria’s opposition activists, Turkey 'best of the bad'

While initially welcoming millions of refugees and supporting opposition activists after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the Turkish government has since shifted positions to further its own interests in a manner that dismays many Syrians living in the country.

Looming despair among Lebanon’s refugees

Large numbers of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon remain in very vulnerable condition.

Who is behind wave of killings of tribal sheikhs in east Syria?

Syria's eastern province of Deir ez-Zor sees escalating tensions between Arab tribes and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Israeli airstrikes target T4 base, Syrian regime says

Israel continues to strike targets in Syria, Assad's state-run news agency says.

Israel suspected of striking southern Syria

The Syrian government last reported that Israel struck the country in late July and this led to clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Is Syria’s eastern front about to boil over?

Another tough week for US-Turkey relations as Erdogan accuses US of "sick mentality."