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May 14, 2026

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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.

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

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

Before Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, national oil production stood at between 400,000 and 500,00 barrels per day before falling to under 100,000 bpd during the conflict.

Latest News

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

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Syria arrests Amjad Youssef, Tadamoun massacre perpetrator: What to know

A young man stands in the entrance of tunnels that were used by the ISIS and the Assad's regime for fighting. Tadamon, Syria, February 7, 2025. (Photo by Raghed Waked / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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

The stakes in Vienna

Fragile and promising trends in regional security and US-Iran cooperation are already underway as a result of the nuclear negotiations.

Civil defence members and civilians search for survivors under the rubble of a site hit by what activists said were barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria June 21, 2015. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail - RTX1HGJ7

Aleppo once again in the eye of the storm

It is total chaos in Aleppo where the regime and the opposition are fighting to reign supreme.

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter takes up position with his weapon as he keeps watch, on the outskirts of Mosul January 26, 2015. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are digging trenches and building defense berms in Wadi al-Ghorab (Valley Of The Crows), less than 2 km away from the IS-held Sultan Abdullah village, which demarcates the new border of their autonomous region. The Kurds have enjoyed de facto self rule since the first Gulf War in 1991. They are now closer than ever to achieving their dream of full independen

Who has 'boots on the ground' in fight against IS?

A mismatch in priorities between the United States and its Sunni allies is obliging the Obama administration to rely more on Iran-backed forces to fight the group that calls itself the Islamic State.

Members of the Druze community stand behind Syrian (R) and Druze flags during a protest in the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, June 15, 2015. Several hundred members of the Druze community on Monday called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to protect their Syrian kin following last week's killing of 20 Druze villagers by the Nusra Front, Syria's al Qaeda branch, during fighting in the ongoing Syrian civil war. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and

Israel should support Syrian 'Druzistan'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser argues that if and when the Assad regime falls in Syria, Israel should support self-rule by the local Druze population.

Turkish soldiers stand guard near the Mursitpinar border gate in Suruc, bordering with the northern Kurdish town of Kobani, in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, June 26, 2015. Islamic State fighters killed at least 145 civilians in an attack on the Syrian town of Kobani and a nearby village, in what a monitoring group described on Friday as the second worst massacre carried out by the hardline group in Syria. Fighting between the Kurdish YPG militia and Islamic State fighters who infiltrated the town at the Turki

Erdogan talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk

Turkey appears to have changed its mind on Syria, and Ankara is preparing to work closer with Washington against IS, which suggests it may be moving away from prioritizing the demise of the Assad regime.

Turkish military wary of Erdogan plan for Syrian buffer zone

The United States remains opposed to a no-fly zone in northern Syria; Masrour Barzani calls for "amicable divorce" for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; Jacky Hugi writes that Israel should back the Syrian government "at any price."

Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel fighters walk inside a trench at the Tal-Kurdi frontline in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, May 10, 2015. Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) fighters said that this was an operation to take control of the highway connecting Damascus to Homs, and that they have made advances in Tal-Kurdi. REUTERS/Amer Almohibany - RTX1CD08

IS fights for its window to the Mediterranean

As the Islamic State is gaining ground in Homs, which is close to the Lebanese border, the Lebanese army is preparing to counter any attempt to turn north Lebanon into an emirate affiliated with the terrorist organization.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) leaves after a wreath-laying ceremony with members of the Supreme Military Council at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara November 30, 2012. Erdogan will chair the twice-yearly meeting of the Supreme Military Council at army headquarters. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3B1R8

Erdogan looks for military victory to avenge electoral defeat

Some observers believe that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to force Turkey into a confrontation with Syria before a coalition government is formed.

An Israeli soldier rides a tank on the Israeli side of the border fence between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, near Majdal Shams, June 16, 2015. Israel's president expressed his concern to the United States last week about the fate of the Druze minority in Syria, saying around 500,000 of them were under threat from Islamist militants in an area near the Israeli border. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX1GRYM

Israel should back Assad

Based on past experience and years of calm borders with Syria, Israel must abandon whatever ties it develops with Syrian rebels and work with its Western allies to stabilize President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Masrour Barzani, Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, speaks during a press conference on October 12, 2013. Tight security measures imposed after a rare deadly attack in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region have curbed tourism ahead of the year's biggest Muslim holiday, industry officials and business owners say. AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Masrour Barzani: Kurdish independence would help defeat IS

Masrour Barzani, chief of the Iraqi Kurdish intelligence services, talks to Al-Monitor about delays in international support against the Islamic State.

Jordanian soldiers participate with special operations forces from Pakistan, Jordan, France and the U.S. in a boarding drill during Exercise Eager Lion in the coastal city of Aqaba May 18, 2015. Around 10,000 participants from 18 countries will take part in Eager Lion. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX1DIDC

IS threat could push Jordan beyond its borders

Despite the imminent terrorist threat, some Jordanians reject the necessity to intervene in Syrian and Iraqi territory.

Turkish army tanks take position on top of a hill near Mursitpinar border crossing in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 11, 2014. A senior Kurdish militant has threatened Turkey with a new Kurdish revolt if it sticks with its current policy of non-intervention in the battle for the Syrian town of Kobani. Kurdish forces allied to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the People's Defence Units (YPG), are fighting against Islamic State insurgents attacking Kobani close to the

Is Turkey poised to invade Syria?

The Turkish military is concerned a military engagement in northern Syria has no international support.