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January 15, 2026

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Members of the Kurdish forces hold a portrait of Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler which reads "Shame on the killers of innocents in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood" during a protest by Syrian Kurds against violence they say was committed by Syrian government forces during recent clashes in Aleppo's Kurdish neighbourhoods, in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Jan. 13, 2026.

Syria declares 'closed military zone' east of Aleppo as Kurds protest

The Syrian government accused the Kurdish-led SDF of mobilizing in the area, reflecting ongoing turmoil following a ceasefire.

President of Syria Ahmed al-Shara arrives for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City. — Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Syria’s Sharaa heads to Davos, ending years of global isolation

The World Economic Forum begins on January 19 and ends on January 23, hosting a cohort of around 400 political leaders.

Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri is pictured at Qanawat, the headquarters of the Druze spiritual presidency, on Dec. 28, 2024, in Suwayda, Syria.

Syria Druze leader Hijri calls for independent entity, says country ‘heading toward partition’

Controversial Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda, praised Israel as the only party he said intervened to stop the killing of Druze during a wave of unrest last summer.

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

The deal reached in Paris under US mediation reflects a rare step toward managing tensions but stops short of halting Israeli military strikes or producing a broader security pact.

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

Latest News

Exclusive

Closed-door breakdown in Syria-Kurdish talks foreshadowed Aleppo clashes

Bakr ALKASEM / AFP via Getty Images

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Sharaa tells Iraq's Barzani Kurds integral to Syria amid fears of Aleppo spillover

Safin HAMID / AFP via Getty Images

Interview

Top Syrian Kurdish official Foza Yusuf says war with Damascus lose-lose for all

An undated image of Foza Yusif.

Foza Yusuf

Foza Yusuf

Top Syrian Kurdish official

Turkey's Fidan says Israel ties harden SDF stance as Syria clashes grow

ATTA KENARE / 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

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) as they attend a press conference on Oct. 10, 2016, in Istanbul. Putin visited Turkey for talks pushing forward ambitious joint energy projects as the two sides try to overcome a crisis in ties.

Turkish-Russian ties marked more by rivalry than cooperation today

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believed Russia would provide him leverage against the United States and Europe after Turkey’s ties with the West took a nosedive.

Vehicles wait to cross into Syria at the recently reopened Naseeb border post in Daraa province, at the Syrian-Jordanian border south of Damascus, Nov. 7, 2018.

Is opening of Jordanian-Syrian crossing politically motivated?

Jordan reopened the Naseeb-Jaber crossing with Syria to restore trade movement, although some do not see any economic benefits for the Syrian government.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

New Kurdish group in Syria attacks Turkish-backed opposition in Afrin

The Afrin Liberation Forces, which has escalated attacks against the Turkish-backed opposition in the Aleppo countryside, is being secretive about the sources of its support, weapons and training.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Fighting between Syria's Kurdish forces, pro-Assad militia enters fourth day

CENTCOM commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said the United States is "prepared to assist" the Kurdish-led forces to de-escalate clashes.

al-bab explosion

Security chaos prevails in FSA-controlled town of north Syria

Assassinations and attacks are on the rise in the Syrian city of al-Bab controlled by the Free Syrian Army, and the perpetrators remain unknown.

A Russian military police armored truck drives past a US military MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle near the village of Tannuriyah in the countryside east of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on May 2, 2020.

Syrian government reportedly building tribal force in Hasakah

Russia and Iran are seeking to build a tribal army within the Syrian Democratic Forces' areas in Hasakah to protect the regime’s survival near the sources of oil and agricultural wealth.

A truck carrying the first batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines arrives at Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Syria and Turkey in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib on April 21, 2021.

Syria's Idlib receives first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines

Provided through the World Health Organization's COVAX program, the 53,800 AstraZeneca doses will go first to health care workers and first responders in the rebel-held territory.

Nadia Murad, an Iraq Yazidi once held captive by the Islamic State, speaks during a religious freedom summit at the US Department of State on July 16, 2019, in Washington, DC.

US government watchdog calls out Syria for religious freedom abuses

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended Egypt, Iraq and Turkey be added to the State Department's special watchlist for religious freedom offenders.

ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images

Syria stripped of voting rights by global chemical weapons watchdog

The French proposal to suspend Syria's "rights and privileges" in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons followed repeated reports of government forces using chemical weapons against civilians.

Russian armored vehicles drive as part of a joint Turkish-Russian military patrol along the M4 highway, which links the northern provinces of Aleppo and Latakia, near Ariha in the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, Syria, June 10, 2020.

Russia briefly withdraws from bases in north Aleppo, leaving SDF to face Turkey by itself

Russia briefly withdrew its forces and its military equipment from two bases in Tal Rifaat, only to return to them in the wake of understandings with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that control the area and fear the advances of the Turkish-backed opposition.

Syrian women and children attend a ceremony to celebrate the last day of the school year in the rebel-held town of Azaz, in northern Syria, May 24, 2017.

Will Syrian women get wider representation in opposition?

The Syrian opposition is working to empower women and increase their participation at the political level, amid low female representation in official institutions.

Abu Walid warms his living room with a pistachio-powered heater in Tal al-Karama village, in northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, Dec. 6, 2019.

Idlib residents resort to virtual coins to make ends meet

Residents of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria have resorted to digital currency to make some money by using only a cellphone connected to the internet.