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.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly (L) welcomes his Sudanese counterpart, Abdalla Hamdok, upon his arrival in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on March 11, 2021. Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been locked for almost a decade in inconclusive talks over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, which broke ground in 2011.

The Takeaway: Sudan not occupying Ethiopian territory, says Sudan’s ambassador to US

Highlights of our exclusive interview with Nureldin Satti, Sudan’s ambassador to the United States; quick takes on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait and China; and Gaza’s shelter for stray dogs!

HASAN MOHAMED/AFP via Getty Images

Probe finds Syrian air force likely used chlorine in 2018 attack

A Syrian army soldier uses a detector to find and clear landmines in a field at a pistachio orchard in the village of Maan, north of Hama, in west-central Syria, June 24, 2020.

Syrian organizations work to remove war remnants in northwest Syria

Syria has been labeled one of the worst countries in the world in terms of the number of mines planted since the war broke out in 2011, with more than 12,000 killed in mine and explosive accidents.

Smoke billows following reported Russian airstrikes on the outskirts of the rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib, Syria, March 29, 2021.

Is al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria’s Idlib on its way to demise?

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, is close to ending the presence of al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, after arresting one of its top active commanders and closing its military facilities in the area.

Morek checkpoint

Kurdish forces agree to deliver oil, Syrian regime reopens crossings

The Syrian government has reopened crossings between the areas it controls and those held by Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria in exchange for oil shipments.

Displaced Syrians wait in a queue as an NGO delivers bread as they wait to receive humanitarian aid in a stadium that has been turned into a makeshift refugee shelter on Feb. 19, 2020, in Idlib, Syria.

UAE sends medical and food aid to Syria

The United Arab Emirates is calling on other countries in the region and around the world to repair ties and cooperate with the Syrian government amid the ongoing civil war.

An image released by Syria's state media outlet SANA on April 8 shows the incoming strikes.

Four soldiers injured in suspected Israeli airstrikes on Syria

Israeli missiles struck areas around Damascus, according to Syria's state media outlet.

A worker walks with a piece of wood on his shoulder at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019.

The Takeaway: Nile Dam talks fail, crisis escalates

Sisi warns that "all options open" if diplomacy not resumed; Israel: "Knives drawn" as Bibi gets first shot at forming government; Hotel shuttle diplomacy at Iran talks in Vienna; Mummies on parade in Egypt; more!

Syrians drive in the town of Saraqeb along the main Damascus-Aleppo (M5) highway in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on March 7, 2020, following a Russian-Turkish cease-fire deal.

War over economic routes heats up in Syria

Syria’s economic collapse is stoking the struggle over commercial routes between government-held areas and US- and Turkish-backed enclaves, fueling also disagreements on humanitarian aid.

children, us soldier in Hasakah province

Tribes in east Syria resort to their own judiciary over lack of trust in official courts

Tribes in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah agreed to set up a tribal judiciary system as an alternative to the official judiciary affiliated with the Kurdish-led authorities running the area.

Haranbush camp for displaced Syrians in Idlib

Syria donor conference raises $6.4B, far short of UN target

Of the more than $6 billion raised during the pledging conference, $4.4 billion is set aside for this year.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Intel: US pledges nearly $600M in humanitarian aid to Syria

The Biden administration is also calling on the UN Security Council to allow the free flow of aid to opposition-held parts of Syria.