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.

Why is Turkish Cypriot leader declared ‘enemy’ in Turkey?

The leader of the Cypriot Turks angered Ankara in October for criticizing the Turkish incursion into Syria, but all hell has broken loose since he recently said that any move by Turkey to annex Northern Cyprus would be a “horrible” prospect.

TOPSHOT - Syrian army units advance in the town of al-Eis in south Aleppo province on February 9, 2020, following battles with rebels and jihadists. - Al-Eis, which overlooks the M5, was on a front that saw fierce fighting between the regime and its opponents in 2016. Syrian troops advancing north of Idlib linked up near Al-Eis with their comrades pushing south of Aleppo, state news agency SANA said. The two units had recently waged separate battles in rural Aleppo and southern Idlib, but are now conjoined

Syrian army makes gains in Idlib, opposition blames Turkey

Syrian opposition groups wonder what value the Turkish observation posts and the Turkish army have in Idlib, as the Syrian regime forces make great advances in the area.

Is Turkey planning to curb radicals in Idlib under strategy shift?

In a scenario that invokes its Afrin operation in 2018, Ankara speaks of reining in radical groups and asserting field control in Idlib, hoping that Moscow will give it a nod to avoid war.

A man rides on a motorbike past Turkish military vehicles in Hazano near Idlib, Syria, February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC2HYE9DX8HU

Turkey grows erratic as clashes in Idlib escalate

The Turkish government seems increasingly irrational as clashes intensify between Syrian government forces and Turkey-backed rebels in Idlib.

Displaced yet again, Syrians flee Idlib for Manbij

With intense shelling and catastrophic conditions in Idlib province, the Syrian Democratic Forces are welcoming refugees into areas they control to the east around Manbij.

Raqqa seeks to repair what IS ruined

The Religious Affairs Foundation in Raqqa held its first Islamic forum as part of efforts to correct the religious concepts that the Islamic State misinterpreted and practiced, in an attempt to bridge the gap that IS created among the Syrian communities.

How Idlib escalation could affect Syrian Kurds

Syrian Kurds are pondering how to take advantage of Turkish-Russian tensions over Idlib, focusing on Turkish-controlled Afrin and not ruling out the prospect of fighting along with government forces if the conflict escalates.

NUR SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN - AUGUST 02: Turkish committee under the presidency of Deputy Turkish Foreign Minister Sedat Onal meet Russian committee within the 13th guarantors meeting on Syria in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan on August 02, 2019. (Photo by Aliia Raimbekova/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Intel: Five Turkish soldiers killed in Idlib amid Russian-Turkish de-escalation talks

Five Turkish troops were killed and five wounded in shelling by the Russian-backed Syrian regime today as the Turkish and Russian delegations were in talks in Ankara to wind down the clashes in Idlib.

Following Russian expansion, roadblocks in northeast Syria delineate zones of US control

US forces have been preventing Russian patrols from advancing along the M4 highway and around al-Malikiyya in northeastern Syria near the Turkish and Iraqi borders.

A poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen on the main road to the airport in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC138B3674B0

Intel: What's behind Russian Defense Ministry anger at Israeli strikes in Syria?

The Russian Defense Ministry slammed Israel on Feb. 7 for what the ministry considered a provocation in the skies over Syria.

Waves of displacement continue amid Idlib escalation

Idlib residents continue to flee toward the border with Turkey as Syrian regime forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, advance on the country’s last opposition stronghold.

'There's no mercy': Kurdish Red Crescent perseveres in northern Syria

Heyva Sor a Kurdistane, the Kurdish Red Crescent, has been doggedly rescuing the wounded and attending to the sick in northeastern Syria since 2012.