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Syria

May 15, 2026

Damascus 3:53 pm

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A Syrian citizen exchanges old banknotes for new notes released and distributed by the central bank, at a bank in the capital, Damascus, on Jan. 3, 2026.

Interview

UK fintech brings foreign currency accounts to Syrians at home

The launch comes as Syria’s new government attempts to stabilize the country’s shattered economy following the January 2025 rise to power of President Ahmed al-Sharaa after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad.

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Khaled Hablas

Lebanon authorities release Salafist cleric Khaled Hablas: What to know

Hablas was imprisoned for his role in the deadly 2014 clashes with the military and Hezbollah and his release follows Syria lobbying for the return of militants detained in Lebanon.

Pictured in this undated image is the Al-Thawra oil field in Raqqa governorate, as rehabilitation works continue to restore production capacity.

Syria restores Raqqa oil field in former ISIS stronghold: What to know

Before Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, national oil production stood at between 400,000 and 500,00 barrels per day before falling to under 100,000 bpd during the conflict.

Latest News

Turkey's border reopening unlocks new sphere of influence in Syria

Turkish Red Crescent's cars and trucks cross the Turkish border as they leave the Syrian city of Tel Abyad on Oct. 19, 2019, in Akcakale, Turkey.

EU restores economic pact to pursue fuller trade ties with Syria

Kaja Kallas

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil adjusts his earpiece during a news conference at the Foreign Affairs building in Mexico City, February 23, 2015. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido (MEXICO - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4QVGR

Lebanese foreign minister: UN needs to show its political will

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Gebran Bassil asked for the international community to stop the flight of Christians and minorities from the region.

Syrians wait at a checkpoint at the Syrian border crossing of Bab al-Hawa on the Syrian-Turkish border in Idlib Governorate January 21, 2015. REUTERS/Abed Kontar (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4MD3V

Are Turkey's young IS recruits now a domestic threat?

Young Turks are increasingly attracted to the Islamic State's radical doctrines, believing their own country's brand of political Islam to be superficial, yet the Turkish government remains unconcerned with the increasing radicalization.

Militant Islamist fighters waving flags, travel in vehicles as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring service said. The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags from car

Is Turkey doing all it can to secure its border?

Reports of 11 foreign medics joining the Islamic State have raised fresh questions on Turkey's enforcement of its Syrian border.

Fighters from the Shi'ite Badr Brigade militia stand near their flag as they guard at a checkpoint along a highway recently taken from militants of the Islamic State, outside the town of Sulaiman Pek September 5, 2014. The highway, which continues south to Baghdad, is now controlled by Shi'ite militia fighters and the Kurdish Peshmerga. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR454AO

Is the Shiite revival here?

Iran's support of religiously motivated forces in the Middle East has been viewed by many as a success while Saudi Arabia has struggled to find find reliable proxies.

A police officer stands guard in front of the Bardo Museum in Tunis March 24, 2015. The national museum reopened on Tuesday, almost a week after a militant attack which killed 20 foreign visitors. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - RTR4UMIW

The Islamic State in Africa

The Islamic State presence in the depth of the African continent was strengthened after Nigerian movement Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the terrorist group.

People take part in a protest against President Bashar al-Assad in the tribal province of Deir al-Zor, eastern Syria, July 22, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Syria after Friday prayers, activists and witnesses say, in widening pro-democracy protests against a violent military crackdown to crush a four month uprising. REUTERS/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLI

After four years, Syrian revolution continues

Syrian rebels say that the shift to armed movements against Bashar al-Assad’s regime has pushed people away from the main purpose of the revolution that started in 2011 and called for achieving justice, equality and freedom for all.

A Syrian rebel looks at damaged display cases inside a former church turned into a film museum which was shelleld by government forces in Aleppo's old city on January 17, 2013. Rebels trying to break a months-long deadlock in their battle for Syria's second city Aleppo say they are cutting supply routes ahead of simultaneous assaults on regime bases. AFP PHOTO/AAMIR QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)

Aleppo's Christians see regime as last hope

Five years into the Syrian conflict, Syria's Christians continue to fight for their existence, turning to the regime as a last resort.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan takes part in a welcoming ceremony in Kiev March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich - RTR4U5UG

Turkey sidelines itself in US-led coalition against IS

Turkey prefers to be a "reluctant subcontractor" rather than active participant in the international coalition against the Islamic State; US envoy seems to contradict Kerry on Syria diplomacy; Israel faces possible "diplomatic siege" after election; majority of Americans back US negotiations with Iran; Al-Monitor endorses new global standards to protect freelance journalists.

A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014, in this still image taken from video. There had previously been reports on social media that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would make his first public appearance since his Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) changed its name to the Islamic S

The many names of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Al-Monitor traces the journey that led an unremarkable religious student to become head of the Islamic State and self-proclaimed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Civilians carry their belongings as they attempt to enter Turkey at the Bab Al-Salam border crossing September 9, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTX13EJ4

No sign of Turkey-Syria border reopening

On March 9, Turkish authorities closed the Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa border crossings with Syria, a move some say may be linked to security measures ahead of Turkey’s parliamentary elections in June.

Syrian refugee children attend a class inside a makeshift school, supported by UNICEF and in cooperation with the Beyond Association, in Zahle in the Bekaa valley October 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: EDUCATION SOCIETY IMMIGRATION CIVIL UNREST POVERTY) - RTR4B6RH

Lebanon schools struggle to integrate Syrian children

UN agencies struggle to meet the education needs of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon.

Figen Yuksedag_1.jpg

Kurdish women’s movement reshapes Turkish politics

A Turkish Sunni woman in her early 40s rises to the top of Kurdish and oppressed people’s political movement.