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Syria

October 9, 2026

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

Why Syria sending troops to Yemen would be a risky bet for Sharaa

Syria insists it will not send troops to fight the Houthis alongside Saudi Arabia, but its economic dependence on Riyadh could complicate Damascus’ resistance to the idea.

Youths play the daf, an Iranian frame drum, during a protest demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language in Al-Qamishli, Syria, on September 22, 2026. The demonstrations follow a decision by the Syrian Interim Government to allocate only Kurdish language classes in schools. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Syria's Kurds, Arabs find common cause in battle for language rights

As Kurdish students protest language restrictions, unexpected alliances are emerging between Syria’s Kurds and Arabs.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

Syria’s Sharaa in Riyadh as Saudi airports come under Houthi attacks: What to know

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to Riyadh as the Houthis escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia and warned international airlines against using Saudi airspace.

Latest News

UAE-Syria move ahead on $20 billion real estate mega-developments

A view of a traffic roundabout in central Latakia, Syria on June 12, 2025. The city's road network converges near the coast, forming one of the busiest urban intersections in the province. (Photo by Omar Albaw / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by OMAR ALBAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria denies meeting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Turkey: What to know

Lebanon seeks Turkey’s help to join Syria-Saudi rail link: What to know

A picture taken on May 1, 2019 shows a railroad of Mar Mikhael neighborhood in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Feature

Syria Golan detentions fuel fury at Israeli forces, doubts in new government

A member of Syria's security forces stands guard outside a former army base near the city of Quneitra in southern Syria, on the edge of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Sept. 21, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters man a checkpoint near Tel Hamis in northeast Syria March 1, 2015.
Kurdish forces dealt a blow to Islamic State by capturing Tel Hamis, an important town, on Friday in the latest stage of a powerful offensive in northeast Syria, a Kurdish militia spokesman said. The capture of Tel Hamis was announced by the Kurdish YPG militia and confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country's civil war. Picture taken March 1, 2015. REUTERS

Anatomy of a Turkish assassination fable

The scenario of a fictional Tel Hamis Brigades assassinating key Kurdish military leader Bahoz Erdal bombed badly, but revealed that Turkey's intelligence service and special forces are hunting the PKK beyond Turkey's borders.

Women walk past damaged buildings along a street in the rebel-held town of Dael, in Deraa Governorate, Syria July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir - RTX2K6L9

Watchdogs: US aid to Syria at high risk for fraud

US partners could do more to ensure that humanitarian assistance gets to the right people, the GAO told Congress.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 24, 2016. REUTERS/Alexander Nemenov/Pool - RTSC3SA

Kerry, Putin meet to salvage Syria peace talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin July 14 to see if they could reach an agreement on a US plan to deepen US-Russian coordination on Syria.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin is pictured during a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan (not pictured) in Ankara December 1, 2014. Putin said on Monday that Moscow could not carry on with the South Stream project if the European Union was opposed to it. Speaking at a joint news conference with Turkish President Erdogan, Putin said the European Commission was reluctant to give the green light to the South Stream project. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (TURKEY

Moscow’s turnaround on Turkey

Common national interests such as security and economic issues remain the prime core of improved relations between Moscow and Ankara.

A print screen of the hacked Facebook page of French television network TV5Monde is seen on a camera viewer in Paris April 9, 2015. French broadcaster TV5Monde was working on Thursday to regain control over its 11 channels and websites after an "extremely powerful" cyber attack claimed by the supporters of the Islamic State, its director said. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann - RTR4WLYH

Is the Islamic State planning a cyber-caliphate?

Under pressure on the battlefield, IS has been moving its caliphate to the virtual world and is targeting Turkey in particular.

A general view shows Aleppo's historic citadel, controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, as seen from a rebel-held area of Aleppo, Syria July 5, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail - RTX2JVC1

In battle for Aleppo, Syria may be at stake

The future of the Syrian revolution could be at stake as regime forces and rebels fiercely battle over control of Aleppo for strategic and symbolic purposes.

Pro-Islamist demonstrators hold a banner that reads "Coup leaders can't trial Mursi" during a protest in support former President Mohamed Mursi at the courtyard of Fatih mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, May 17, 2015. An Egyptian court on Saturday sought the death penalty for former president Mohamed Mursi and 106 supporters of his Muslim Brotherhood in connection with a mass jail break in 2011. Mursi and his fellow defendants, including top Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, were convicted for killing and kidnapp

Why Sisi, Erdogan won't be making up anytime soon

Relations between Egypt and Turkey may remain cold as long as Cairo continues to repress the Muslim Brotherhood.

Syrian refugees stroll at a refugee camp in Osmaniye, Turkey, May 17, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSF6J7

What's really behind Turkey's controversial plan for refugees?

Many people detect political schemes behind Erdogan’s proposed offer of citizenship to Syrian refugees.

Syrian refugees wait for transportation after crossing into Turkey from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, near Akcakale in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, June 10, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTX1FYOZ

Erdogan’s citizenship offer fans flames of anti-Syrian sentiment in Turkey

Turkey's polarized public appears to have found a common cause against a proposed offer of citizenship and preferential treatment for Syrian refugees.

Jabhat al-Nusra 'al-Qaeda's largest formal affiliate in history'

Testimony by US official comes as Amnesty International report documents “abduction, torture and summary killings” committed by Jabhat al-Nusra and allied Syrian armed groups.

Lebanese army soldiers and policemen secure the area at the site where suicide bomb attacks took place in the Christian village of Qaa, in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Hassan Abdallah - RTX2IE68

Lebanon reels under weight of Syrian refugee crisis

Lebanon's foreign and labor ministers are extremely worried about the consquences of Lebanon's hosting of Syrian refugees, particularly in light of the June 27 suicide bombings in the Bekaa Valley.

A man walks near damaged houses after Syrian rebels and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front took control of al-'Iss town, in Aleppo countryside, Syria April 2, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTSDAHL

Will US, Russia start coordinating against Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria?

The United States, increasingly concerned about the threat posed by al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, is continuing to discuss with Russia a proposal to target Jabhat al-Nusra and IS.