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Syria

April 11, 2026

Damascus 8:52 am

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This handout photograph provided by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (R) in Damascus on Dec. 22, 2025.

Analysis

How the Iran war can help Syria manage Turkey and its regional rivals

Rising regional tensions and disrupted oil flows are giving Damascus leverage to balance Ankara and other neighbors while exploring alternative energy corridors.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A member of the Popular Mobilization Forces patrols along a concrete wall at the Iraqi-Syrian border in Al-Qaim, west of Iraq, on Jan. 23, 2026.

Syria reopens key crossing after 11 years, aiding Iraq's oil exports amid war

Iraq and Syria have shown a desire to cooperate on oil exports, and the matter has become more urgent due to the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Sharaa, King Charles

In UK visit, Syria’s Sharaa doubles down on Western ties amid Iran war, refugee pressures

After talks with UK leaders on Tuesday, Syria's president said the country would remain neutral in the Iran conflict unless it was targeted.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa depart after speaking to the media following talks at the Chancellery on March 30, 2026, in Berlin, Germany.

Analysis

Why Germany may struggle to meet Merz’s 80% Syria repatriation goal

Germany, which hosts the EU’s largest Syrian refugee population, is pushing to repatriate Syrians, but Syria’s domestic issues and legal protections for asylum seekers complicate those efforts.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Latest News

Syria sustains drone attack from Iraq, tackles smuggling tunnels on Lebanon border

Members of the Popular Mobilization Units stand guard along the Iraqi-Syrian border in Al-Qaim, west of Iraq, on Jan. 23, 2026.

Syrian authorities restrict alcohol sales in Damascus: What to know

People drink and chat in a bar in the old town in Damascus on June 19, 2025 in Damascus, Syria.

Top Kurdish critic of Damascus named Syria's deputy defense minister

Sipan Hemo

Syria’s Sharaa blasts Iran’s 'destabilizing' role, moves closer to US, Gulf

A boy walks past an unexploded missile that landed in an open field on the outskirts of Qamishli, eastern Syria, on March 5, 2026.

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 general view taken on August 13, 2017, shows an Islamic State group poster in the central Syrian town of Al-Sukhnah.

Is Islamic State rebuilding in Syrian desert?

Hardly a day passes without the Islamic State carrying out an attack against government forces and their allied militias in the Syrian desert.

Syrian civilians wait at a checkpoint of the Syrian Democratic Forces on the western entrance of Raqqa as they are prevented by forces from entering the the embattled city, Syria, Oct. 26, 2017.

Syria's internal border crossing key to power, revenues for government and opposition groups

The internal crossings in Syria are used to prove control and sway, and they are a key source of income for the warring sides.

US President Joe Biden (R) speaks with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to a plenary session of a NATO summit at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels, on June 14, 2021.

The Takeaway: Pragmatism is the new watchword in US-Turkey relations

Plus: A fresh start for Israel; Iran’s hard-line front-runner on the issues; Egypt’s faltering Palestinian mediation; Saudi-Syria talks; Golani’s makeover.

US President Joe Biden (R) talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021.

Biden discusses imperiled Syrian aid at high-stakes Putin summit

The two leaders met ahead of a looming UN Security Council deadline to renew a massive cross-border aid operation that Russia is intent on shutting down.

An undated image of Abu Mohammed al-Gulani (center) posted to Twitter on May 30, 2020.

HTS posts infographic on life and times of Syrian jihadist leader

The fallout continues over the PBS documentary on Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.

Eve Cafe, a women's-only cafe in Idlib, Syria.

All-women's cafe in opposition-held Idlib stirs controversy

Syria’s northwestern city of Idlib, which is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, witnessed the opening of its first female coffee shop in what some deemed a type of discrimination against women. Others saw it as an outlet for women to escape the prevailing patriarchy in the Syrian opposition areas.

Syrian Tourism Minister Mohammed Rami Martini (C) attends a tourism conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 26, 2021, despite tense relations between the two countries.

The slow, uncertain pace of Saudi-Syrian rapprochement

Even if the two sides eventually normalize ties, Damascus faces an uphill struggle to return to the Arab League.

FSA patrol in Jarablus

Islamic State cells terrorize civilians in northwest Syria

Islamic State cells in the areas under the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army in the countryside of Aleppo have escalated operations following the killing of a senior IS official and his colleague during a raid on their hideout in the city of al-Bab.

A special forces mission personnel affiliated with the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation shows his skills during a graduation ceremony, al-Ghazawiya, near Afrin in the rebel-held northern countryside of Aleppo province, Syria, July 28, 2020.

Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups unify forces

The Syrian National Army affiliated with the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army in Aleppo is merging a number of its factions under one group in order to reorganize ranks.

International humanitarian aid trucks cross into Syria's northwestern Idlib province through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2020.

US cranks up diplomacy with Russia to keep Syria’s last humanitarian aid corridor open

The fate of millions of Syrians hangs in the balance as Russia threatens to shut a crossing vital to humanitarian aid.

A patrol of US military vehicles is seen near the flying yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and green flags of its constituent Women's Protection Forces (YPJ) in the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Syrian Hasakeh province along the border with Turkey on Feb. 8, 2020.

SDF digs tunnels in northeast Syria in case of Turkish offensive

The Syrian Democratic Forces continue to dig tunnels on the demarcation lines with the Turkey-backed opposition factions in northeast Syria, fearing a military operation.

Biden, Putin

Will Syria come up in Biden-Putin summit?

US pressing to maintain humanitarian corridors into Syria; Erdogan’s issues with US Syria policy; UN envoy refers to Syria’s "tragic irony."