Syrian National Army

SADAT: Turkey’s Wagner Group

The SADAT International Defense Consultancy has grown into a key instrument of Turkish influence in Africa and the Middle East.

Islamist Turkey: A Base for Muslim Brotherhood Jihadism

Turkey Puts Fragile Deal Between Damascus and Kurdish Forces at Greater Risk

If the agreement collapses, violence may be imminent. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have spent months negotiating with the government in Damascus how to implement their March agreement...

Ceasefire Gives Breathing Room to Syrian Government and Kurdish-Led Forces

A ceasefire between the government in Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), agreed to on October 7, pulls Syria back from the brink of bloodshed. Tensions, already high, rose the...

US-led raid kills senior Islamic State ‘official’ in Syria

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that a raid by US forces killed a “senior ISIS [Islamic State] member” in Atmeh in northwest Syria’s Idlib province on August 19. “Combined Joint...

Turkey is Making a Power Play to Dominate the Middle East

With Iran’s regional influence in steep decline, Turkey is aggressively positioning itself to fill the vacuum and assert dominance across the eastern Mediterranean and the broader Middle East....

Lifting Sanctions on Syrian Regime Is a Grave Mistake

At a future point, many will ask an obvious question: why did the United States and Europe lift sanctions on Syria? The question will come after the likely fall of the Ahmed...

Trump Tells Syria to Expel Foreign Fighters, But Sharaa Gives Them Army Divisions

“Tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria,” President Donald Trump told interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on May 14 — just after lifting all U.S. sanctions on Syria. Yet on May 18, Syria’s...

From Wanted to Welcomed: Trump Meets Syria’s Ahmad al-Sharaa

“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” said President Donald Trump on May 13 during a speech at an investment forum in Riyadh at...

Turkey’s Rising Influence in Post-Assad Syria

“You’ve taken it over through surrogates,” Donald Trump says he told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, acknowledging Turkey’s deepening role in Syria. Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa,...

Turkey increasing military assistance to Syria

Reports circulating on Syrian social media claim that Syrian interim President Ahmad al Sharaa is planning a visit to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to finalize a defense and military agreement between the two countries.

Massacres in Syria Expose New President’s Struggle to Govern

Hundreds of fighters and hundreds more civilians are dead following the bloodiest clashes yet between the new Syrian government and militias loyal to the fallen regime of Bashar al-Assad. On March 6,...

Why did Syria’s Kurds sign a deal with the new regime?

On March 10, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) signed an agreement with Syria’s interim government, integrating the SDF’s 100,000-strong, predominantly Kurdish force into the new Syrian...

Bridging the Gap

Turkey Between East and West

Can Syria Survive?

On February 25, Syria held a National Dialogue Conference, which is supposed to help the country come together after years of civil war and the toppling of the Assad regime. Syria’s new president,...

10 Things to Know About Turkey’s Interventions and Influence in Syria

Turkey intends to position itself as the most influential foreign actor in Syria. Following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey built close ties with jihadist militias fighting Bashar...

Profiles of foreign commanders in the new Syrian army

The new Syrian administration has announced the disbandment of the Bashar al Assad regime’s Syrian Arab Army and confirmed the integration of multiple rebel groups into a unified military under...

Syrian government forces enter Afrin, signaling a change in control

Forces from Syria’s General Security Department entered the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin on February 6, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The strategic Tishrin Dam has become a flashpoint in post-Assad Syria

The Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River in Syria has become a key point of conflict in the country’s post-Assad era. Since the fall of dictator Bashar al Assad’s regime on December 8, the dam has been...

Turkey and HTS: A New Era of Extremism in Syria?

Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2023, Syria is now controlled by an alliance of opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). While there has...