Syria Conflict

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

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)

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

Israeli officials remain skeptical of Turkish and Syrian denials over Ankara’s military ambitions in Syria, warning that a deeper Turkish foothold could threaten Israel’s security and strain its ties with Washington.

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

Burhaanettin Duran

Turkey signals restraint as war of words with Israel escalates over Syria

The Turkish president’s top communications aide says Ankara will not be drawn into the Israeli government's “games” as Washington pushes a Turkey-Israel-Syria deconfliction mechanism.

Latest News

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.

In first, Lebanon to hand over former Syrian general to Sharaa government

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Aug. 18, 2026, shows Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan (C) during the sentencing of Wassim al-Assad.

Syria announces capture of senior ISIS official near Manbij: What to know

SANA

Jared Szuba

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

A US soldier guides the MQ-9 Reaper drone as it lands at Subic Bay Freeport Zone on April 23, 2023, as part of the US-Philippines joint military exercise 'Balikatan'. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP) (Photo by JAM STA ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian fighter jets harass US drones over Syria twice in 24 hours

A Russian Su-35 forced two French Rafales to take evasive maneuvers over the Iraq-Syria border on Thursday as the Pentagon warned of increasing harassment.

A convoy transporting humanitarian aid crosses into Syria from Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing on Jan. 18, 2022.

US, Russia clash over UN's aid lifeline to Syria

Ahead of the vote, UN humanitarian leaders are urging the Security Council to keep open “any and all avenues” to deliver aid to Syrians in need.

Jordanian Foreign Minsiter Ayman Safadi (L) meets with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara on July 4, 2023.

In Turkey visit, Jordan's FM says Ankara, Amman on same page on Syrians

The foreign minister of Jordan, whose country hosted a series of mediation meetings between Damascus and other Arab capitals, traveled to Ankara after meeting with Assad in Syria.

This picture taken on Jan. 26, 2019, shows journalists filming outside the departure lounge and control tower of Sulaimaniyah International Airport.

Turkey extends flight ban on Iraqi Kurds' Sulaimaniyah airport over alleged PKK support

Turkey said its latest ban is in response to "the intensification of activities by the PKK terrorist organization in Sulaimaniyah."

captagon

US outlines strategy to counter Syria's lucrative Captagon trade

The report to lawmakers details US plans to support the counter-narcotics capacity of Syria's neighbors and impose sanctions on the key drug traffickers fueling the regime's operations.

Wagner group

Putin’s Syria policy hangs on amid Russian crackdown on Wagner

Israeli-Saudi normalization linked to Netanyahu White House visit; Israel’s booming arms exports; Turkey-Sweden ties strained ahead of NATO summit; would an 'informal' Iran deal require congressional review?

Prigozhin

What's next for Wagner in Syria, Africa after Putin mutiny?

Yevgeny Prigozhin's mercenary army usually acted as an unofficial extension of Russian foreign policy, but many questions have arisen following last week's aborted revolt.

A child stares at a US soldiers patrolling a village in the countryside of the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, near the Turkish border, on July 23, 2022. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria, Palestine, Yemen biggest violators of child soldier recruits: UN

The report coincides with renewed Russian airstrikes in Syria’s last rebel stronghold of Idlib in the northwest.

This picture taken on July 21, 2022 shows a view of sacks of confiscated captagon pills, presented at the judicial police headquarters in the city of Zahle in Lebanon's central Bekaa valley. - A decade of appalling civil war has left Syria fragmented and in ruins but one thing crosses every frontline: the drug fenethylline, commercially known as captagon. The stimulant -- once notorious for its association with Islamic State fighters -- has spawned an illegal $10-billion industry that not only props up the

Lebanon seizes Captagon shipment bound for central Africa, Gulf

Lebanon's latest bust comes as US sanctions and other measures work to counter trafficking in the country.

A picture taken on Aug. 2, 2018, shows a man riding a motorcycle past destroyed buildings in the opposition-held southern city of Daraa.

South Syria increasingly unstable even as normalization proceeds with Assad

Economic turmoil and failed attempts at reconciliation over a decade after the beginning of Syria's civil war keep the country on unstable footing.

Trucks move in a United Nations aid convoy en route to Syria's rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib on June 23, 2023.

Syria’s rebel-held northwest receives first UN aid convoy since earthquake

UN aid has not entered northwest Syria since the earthquake that hit the region in February left millions suffering in devastating humanitarian conditions.

A woman holds up a sign as other protesters wave Syrian national flags and red banners during a demonstration by Druze residents of the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights against Israeli construction of wind turbines in the territory, Jan. 24, 2020.

Analysis

Why are Golan Heights Druze protesting Israel's wind turbines project?

The state-backed project has ignited strong objections by the Druze in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, who fear for their health and for their rural way of life.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs