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Syria

April 21, 2025

Damascus 12:22 pm

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Analysis

With SDF in sight, Turkey assesses gains as Trump eyes Syria withdrawal

Turkey is weighing its security gains and diplomatic risks as Washington reconsiders its military footprint in Syria.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

An Israeli army Merkava main battle tank crosses the barbed-wire fence into the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights near the UN Quneitra checkpoint on March 2, 2025.

Analysis

Fragile optimism over Turkey-Israel deconfliction talks in Syria: What to know

As Turkey and Israel seek a better understanding of each other’s positions in Syria, deconfliction talks aim to prevent clashes but offer little hope for broader reconciliation.

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

Jared Szuba

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist , Jared Szuba

Sharaa MBZ UAE

Analysis

With Sharaa's visit, UAE opens door to post-Assad Syria, but how far will it go?

Does renewed contact between the United Arab Emirates and Syria signal a deeper political alignment or a cautious attempt to manage regional dynamics without fully endorsing the new Syrian order?

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Women are seen walking at the Roj Camp in northeast Syria, on April 8, 2025.

Exclusive

Syria's Kurds say Trump aid cuts are feeding radicalism in ISIS camps

In an interview at Syria’s Roj camp, the head of intelligence for the Women’s Protection Units warns that US funding cuts are fueling a resurgence of ISIS ideology among detained women and children, deepening an already volatile security crisis.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

US weighs plans to slash troop presence in Syria by more than half

US forces patrol oil fields near Syria's northeastern border with Turkey in the Qahtaniyah countryside in the far northeast corner of Hasakeh province on Sept. 3, 2024.

Lebanon’s PM Nawaf Salam makes first Syria visit, meets Sharaa as border tensions loom

Sharaa

Exclusive

Syrian Kurd commander: Aleppo power-sharing deal could be model for nation

Mazloum Kobane

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Syria’s Sharaa looks to boost ties with Turkey, Azerbaijan during Antalya visit

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives to the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on April 11, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Pentagon 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

LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 03: Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (R-HI) speaks during a Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump campaign rally at Lancaster Airport on November 03, 2024 in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Trump begins his day campaigning in battleground state of Pennsylvania, where 19 electoral votes up for grabs, where a recent New York Times and Siena College polls show a tie with Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump will head to North Car

Trump hands intel post to Tulsi Gabbard, ex-Democrat with Assad controversy

Gabbard, a former congresswoman-turned Trump diehard, is likely to face scrutiny for her secret 2017 meeting with Syria's dictator.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on November 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. The two leaders had a meeting in the Oval Office before speaking to the media at the news conference. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

After Trump win, Turkey hopeful on Syria reconciliation, US withdrawal

Ankara expresses hope for mending ties with Damascus as well as a potential US military exit from northern Syria following Trump’s victory.

GettyImages-2162402229

US strikes Iran-backed militias in Syria in latest round of retaliation

This was the first wave of retaliatory US strikes against Iran-backed militias acknowledged by CENTCOM in several months.

People check the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the eastern village of Bazzaliyeh in the Hermel district of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, near the border with Syria, Nov. 1, 2024.

Israel steps up strikes in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza despite diplomatic push

Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip have witnessed heavy airstrikes in the past days, amid renewed efforts to appease the situation in the region.

US President Donald Trump (L) talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) at NATO headquarters in Brussels during a NATO summit, July 11, 2018.

Erdogan invites Trump to Turkey, seeking end to US-Syrian Kurd alliance

The Turkish president described his conversation with the US president-elect as “sincere,” revealing that it had taken place while Donald Trump was at a family dinner that included Elon Musk.

US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Vice President's ceremonial office at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2024. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Kamala Harris, Donald Trump sent messages to Israel to end Lebanon war by Jan. 20

Both US presidential candidates push Israel to end its war against Hezbollah as quickly as possible, yet Prime Minister Netanyahu might have other considerations in mind.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Syrian Democratic Forces commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi speaks during an interview with AFP in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on Oct. 26, 2024.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander: Turkey-PKK talks doomed if aimed at collapsing Kurds' self rule in Syria

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, the commander in chief of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazlum Kobane, denied PKK assailants who attacked a defense complex in Ankara had come from northeastern Syria.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Thick smoke billows from a raging fire at a storage tank of the al-Awda oil field facility near al-Qahtaniyah in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on Dec. 24, 2023, a day after a reported Turkish strike.

Turkey pummels Kurds in Syria over Ankara attack amid overtures to PKK leader Ocalan

The timing of the attacks has spurred speculation that hawks on both sides are seeking to torpedo efforts to end the conflict between the Turkish army and the PKK.

Military honour guards stand next to the coffin of taxi driver Murat Arslan, the day after he was killed in an attack at a state-run aerospace industries building in Ankara, October 24, 2024.

Turkey says 2 PKK members behind TUSAS attack, ramps up airstrikes in Iraq, Syria

With funerals for victims underway, Turkish officials identified the attackers as operatives of the Kurdish militant group.

People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. Human Rights Watch warned on September 25 that Israeli strikes on Lebanon were putting civilians "at grave risk", urging an international investigation into hostilities in the country and in northern Israel. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Feature

With Lebanon under Israeli bombardment, over 200,000 flee to war-torn Syria

With land travel now stymied due to Israeli shelling, desperate, hungry and tired civilians are making the arduous journey on foot to the Syrian border in hopes of finding temporary safety.

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

A sign about the heightened level of the counterterrorism response is seen outside HMS Duncan while docked at the Port of Limassol on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on Oct. 2, 2024.

Cyprus arrests eight Syrians accused of funding terror group: What we know

The arrests come as more Syrians arrive in Cyprus, fleeing the conflicts in Lebanon and Syria.

An armed man sits in front of a car damaged in a reported Israeli strike in Damascus on Oct. 2, 2024.

As Israel steps up attacks on Syria, is Bashar al-Assad next?

While targeting Assad and his brother would destabilize the regime and potentially deprive Hezbollah of its rear base, an Israeli source has denied any such plans.