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Syria

May 18, 2026

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives to attend the second day of the first Syrian-Emirati (United Arab Emirates) Investment Forum, at the People's Palace in Damascus on May 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Ports and infrastructure: UAE embraces new economic order in Syria

UAE-Syrian ties have moved faster than expected, with Abu Dhabi embracing President Ahmad al-Sharaa and relations shifting from normalization to investment opportunities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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.

Latest News

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

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

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

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

A picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and a Syrian flag are seen from a hole in Aleppo's Salaheddine neighbourhood November 7, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX15431

Islamic militia expels criminal gangs from Aleppo

The al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams has won the praise of Aleppans after expelling criminal gangs that have looted and ravaged the city.

Jordanian hospitals manage care for wounded Syrians

Almost every hospital in Jordan has a ward where Syrians can receive free health care after being severely wounded in Syria.

President of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Al-Jarba (L), looks on during a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi (not pictured) in Cairo, November 2, 2013. Arab League Foreign Ministers will meet in Cairo in an emergency session to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria on Sunday. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14XDS

Syrian opposition split over peace conference

The National Coalition of Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces is meeting in Istanbul to consider participating in the Geneva II peace conference.

Syrians refugees try to enter a truck which will transport them back to their homeland at the Al-Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTX1258L

US official on Syria: 'half the population is suffering'

US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Anne Richard discusses the Syrian humanitarian crisis with Al-Monitor.

Orthodox Christian worshippers gather before the start of a procession outside Jerusalem's Old City September 5, 2013. About two hundred Orthodox Christians took part in an annual procession in which an icon of the Virgin Mary is carried from a church at the foot of the Mount of Olives believed by Christians to mark the tomb of the Virgin Mary back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX137SV

'Culture of fear' for region's minorities

Conferences recently dedicated to the plight of Middle East Christians need to be understood in broader context.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 24, 2013.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13Y4X

Obama goes big in the Middle East

The US-Russia agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons, a possible nuclear deal with Iran, and Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are all signs that the Obama administration may be charting a new course in the region.

A member of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) carries his weapon as he sits at a checkpoint near the city of Ras al-Ain November 5, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria, a Kurdish militant group said on Monday, tightening their grip on an area where the

Syrian Kurdish leader: Turkey may end proxy war

In an interview, Saleh Muslim, co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), says that Turkey is ceasing its proxy war against the PYD by ending its support for jihadist groups in Syria.

People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

Does Washington have a policy toward Syria’s Kurds?

The view from Washington about US policy toward Syria may be more confusing than it looks from Turkey.

A wounded Syrian girl sits on a hospital bed at Ziv Medical Center in the northern Israeli town of Safed September 9, 2013. What started this year as a trickle is now a steady flow of Syrians, scores of civilians and fighters wounded in the civil war and being discreetly brought across the Golan frontline into Israel - a country with which Syria is formally still at war. Picture taken September 9, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS HEALTH) - RTX13JW4

Wounded Syrians treated in Israel

Safed's Ziv hospital welcomes Syrians wounded in the war.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad answers journalists after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, December 9, 2010. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXVKF9

Syria's temporary solution

As preparations for the Geneva II Syria conference stall, some suggest that a temporary solution could be in the works, aimed at keeping President Bashar al-Assad in office, but without elections.

Ayse Gokkan.jpg

Turkey’s wall of shame

The mayor of Nusaybin, Ayse Gokkan, is a woman on hunger strike against a wall, and the government that interferes with everything doesn’t utter a word.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu after a news conference in Ankara November 1, 2013. Turkey and Iran said on Friday they had common concerns about the increasingly sectarian nature of Syria's civil war, signalling a thaw in a key Middle Eastern relationship strained by stark differences over the conflict. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14WOL

The return of Turkey’s 'zero problems' policy

Turkey rebuilds ties to Iran and Iraq and faces the realization that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will likely be part of the transition in Syria.