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Syria

October 7, 2026

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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.

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)

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

Major housing and tourism projects in Damascus and Latakia are set to advance following a new agreement with UAE real estate tycoon Mohamed Alabbar.

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

Both Damascus and Ankara denied reports that Syrian officials met with Hezbollah representatives in Turkey, as relations between the two sides remain fraught with tensions mainly over the Lebanese group’s support for Assad’s forces against rebels during the Syrian civil war.

Latest News

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

Analysis

How militias in Anbar could complicate Iraq’s energy ambitions

Iraqi soldiers from the new 'desert battalion' special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Exclusive

How Syrian Air is braving regional turbulence to rise from the ashes

Syria Air

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

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

UN extends Syria cross-border aid by six months

By a vote of 15-0, the UN Security Council renewed the provision of aid from the Turkish-Syrian border through July.

Erdogan Putin

Analysis

Will Erdogan and Assad soon meet to bury the hatchet?

Erdogan’s opportunism, Putin’s weakness, Iran’s distraction, Israel’s vigilance all complicate Syrian endgame.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

A young woman from Syria (seated) reacts to a mild electric current in the gloves she is wearing that is meant to simulate the effect of Parkinson's disease at a jobs fair for refugees that promotes training programs and jobs in the caregiving and health care industries on January 14, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

'I do...I'm done': Divorce spikes among Syrian refugee women in Germany

The transition to their new lives in Germany has led some Syrian women to end their marriages away from the prying eyes of their home communities.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar is seen seated at the start of the North Atlantic Council meeting on the final day of the NATO defense ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 13, 2022.

Turkish defense chief warns Syrian rebels against ‘provocation’

As the Turkish president eyes a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, the Turkish defense chief warns Ankara-backed armed groups against “provocations” amid ongoing Syrian protests against the Damascus-Ankara thaw.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Sixth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, Astana, Kazakhstan, Oct. 13, 2022.

Erdogan presses for 'concrete steps' in Syria during call with Putin

President Erdogan tells his Russian counterpart Putin that the Syrian government needs to be "constructive" for "concrete results" in Syria.

Syria Assad

The Takeaway: Regional embrace of Syria's Assad puts US in tight spot

Plus, the US responds to Itamar Ben-Gvir's controversial holy site visit, and President Joe Biden names ambassadors to Jordan and Oman.

Demonstrators raise Syrian opposition flags and placards as they rally against a potential rapprochement between Ankara and the Syrian regime, al-Bab, on the border with Turkey, in Syria's northern Aleppo province, Dec. 30, 2022.

Syrian opposition-controlled areas protest Ankara-Damascus rapprochement

Syrians are speaking out against a potential Turkish-Syrian rapprochement, with opposition-held areas holding vigils and protests across Aleppo and Idlib governorates.

Protesters raise yellow flags showing the face of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) -- currently prison in Turkey, and the red-star flag of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK - Eniya Rizgariya Netewa Kurdistan), during a demonstration calling for his release and condemning recent Turkish strikes on Kurdish areas, in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Dec. 6, 2022.

Turkey’s overtures to Assad all about crushing Syrian Kurds’ autonomy

Turkey’s security establishment remains immutably opposed to the consolidation of any form of Kurdish autonomy in Syria that would mirror Kurdish gains in neighboring Iraq.

Travelers head to an entrance of Damascus International Airport, Damascus, Syria, Feb. 19, 2020.

Israeli strikes on Syria put Damascus airport briefly out of service, kill two

The Syrian government said on Monday that a string of Israeli strikes hit Damascus International Airport putting its service to a halt for nearly seven hours.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart in Ankara on Dec. 22, 2022.

Turkish, Syrian FMs could meet soon as diplomatic thaw gains steam

The top Turkish diplomat said Saturday that he could meet with his Syrian counterpart in mid-January.

Syria Idlib

Turkey, Syrian government may cooperate on the ground

Turkey is considering cooperating with the Syrian government in rebel-held Syrian territories after the first high-level talks between Turkey and the Syrian government in Moscow this week.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

2022 in review: Turkey wraps up year of regional resets but more whiplash ahead

As 2022 forced the Turkish government to reverse course with regional powers, this election year is expected to usher in even more change in Turkey’s foreign policy.