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.

A member of the Asayish stands near a man in a wheelchair along an empty street, as restrictions are imposed as measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Qamishli, Syria March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC2VPF9ALD0J

Kurdish-led northeast under lockdown as Syria announces first coronavirus case

The Kurdish-led autonomous administration declares a two-week curfew in an effort to keep the coronavirus out of northeast Syria; Turkey cuts off water supply to Hasakah.

A health worker with a face mask walks inside a hospital, as hospitals enforce a series of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Damascus, Syria March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC20NF9CYGOY

Coronavirus in Syria: a catastrophe in the making

The Syrian government has stepped up measures to tackle the spreading novel coronavirus amid growing fears among Syrians of the pandemic’s catastrophic spread in light of their harsh living and humanitarian situation.

Meet Syria’s female doctors

Syrian women stepped up and took on medical work to fill the void left by men in the health care sector in northern Syria.

Members of the Syrian Violet NGO set up triage tents for suspected coronavirus patients outside the Ibn Sina Hospital in Syria's northwestern Idlib city on March 19, 2020. - Syrian authorities on March 13 announced measures aimed at preventing coronavirus from reaching the war-torn country, including school closures and a ban on smoking shisha in cafes, state media reported. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Doctors in northwest Syria brace for ‘devastating’ coronavirus

Medical personnel in Syria contacted by Al-Monitor worry that Idlib's crippled health infrastructure will not be able to handle a coronavirus outbreak.

Turkey’s geostrategic orientation at crossroads amid Idlib tangle

Confusion prevails in Ankara on how to resolve the entangled Idlib crisis and the choices it will ultimately make could bear on its geostrategic orientations in the coming years.

Deir ez-Zor residents protest rule by Syrian Kurdish group

The Deir ez-Zor military council, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has been firing on protesters and believes they are being fed anti-SDF propaganda by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Oil pumpjacks are seen at the Rumeilan oilfield, Qamishli province December 11, 2013. Picture taken December 11, 2013. To match Special Report SYRIA-KURDISTAN/ REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: ENERGY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS COMMODITIES) - GM1EA1M1LFR01

Erdogan turns to oil in a bid to salvage Syria policy

Turkey’s president eyes oil-related bargains in Syria after failing to achieve his stated objectives in Idlib and acquiescing to a new deal with Russia in the rebel stronghold.

Leftist Egyptian party looks to bolster ties with Assad

Western powers demand “accountability for the atrocities committed by the Assad regime” in a statement, as Egypt's National Progressive Unionist Party is boosting its efforts to return Syria to its full standing in the Arab world.

Syrian army soldiers gesture in southern Idlib province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on March 5, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE - RC2WDF9OXEEJ

US prepares biting Syria sanctions as Assad pummels Idlib

The United States is preparing to slap stringent sanctions on the Bashar al-Assad government as it pummels Idlib, raising questions about Syria’s long-term reconstruction.

Syrian government struggles with unrest in Suwayda

Local figures in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda have been considering solutions to the clashes and tension ongoing with regime affiliates in the province.

Migrants from Iran and Syria walk towards Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey, March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC2CGF9X2KH1

‘Let them cross’: Turkey’s president defiant on Europe border crisis

Turkey's president, after meeting with EU leaders, says Greece should open its border with Turkey to migrants and then let them cross into other European countries; Russian and Turkish patrols for a new security corridor straddling Syria's M4 highway also are set.

Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic speak to the Conference on U.S.-Turkey Relations in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC11C9AEE7A0

Turkish envoy calls for more international support for Syria refugees, cease-fire deal

Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic said Ankara is not receiving enough support from the international community as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Brussels for meetings with the European Council and NATO.