Syria and Turkey

How US Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack plays key role in creating a new Syria, Levant region - analysis

Barack plays a key role as US ambassador to Turkey, Special Envoy to Syria, and one of the key figures in American policy in the Levant, while also keeping constant dialogues with Gulf state actors.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack attends a press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, in Damascus, Syria September 16, 2025.
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 Maqsud neighborhood" during a protest in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on January 13, 2026.

How Turkey’s dangerous course in the Middle East fuels massacres - opinion

Ankara has created, sustained, and directed a well-established network of Islamist proxies.

|ByVEYSI DAG
Armored personnel carriers stand outside a compound of the Syrian army's new 80th Division in northwest Syria, June 3, 2025.

Syrian army starts training in Turkey, while Ankara gains influence over Damascus gov't - analysis

Forty-nine Syrians have begun training in Turkey, as part of a new program that will allow Syrian troops to use Turkish military barracks and academies.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Shanty houses painted in primary colours are pictured crowding the deep gullies and steep cliffs in Altindag, a suburb on the slopes outside central Ankara.

Turkish charity shop worker allegedly sexually abusing Syrian refugees - BBC

The charity shop owner claimed it was physically impossible that he had committed sexual assault, as he only had one testicle and only four women had accused him.

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD

Turkey accused of killing Kurdish female commander in Syria

The attack by Turkey, using an armed drone, appears to be the latest attempt by Ankara to attack US-backed anti-ISIS forces.

JULY 28, 2022BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Syrian Democratic Forces flag flutters on a damaged building in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria, on March 23, 2019

Turkey accused of killing civilian tourists in bombardment in Iraq

Turkey has been accused of massacring civilian tourists in northern Iraq.

JULY 21, 2022BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Turkish flag, with the New and the Suleymaniye mosques in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Turkey, April 11, 2019.

Latest ISIS leader targeted by US drone near Turkish border - analysis

The leader of ISIS in Syria, one of the top five leaders of the militant group, has been killed in a US air strike, the Pentagon said

JULY 13, 2022BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Turkish soldiers deployed last month in the center of Afrin, a Syrian town bordering on Turkey

Turkey uses Iran to back new Syrian invasion, blackmailing NATO at same time - analysis

By backing Ankara, Tehran expects it will have free rein in southern Syria to threaten Israel.

JUNE 28, 2022BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a meeting of his ruling AK Party via video link in Ankara, Turkey March 4, 2021.

Five wounded as Turkey hit by rockets fired from Syria

The five people wounded in Turkey, in the Karkamis district of Gaziantep province, were taken to hospital for treatment.

MAY 12, 2022ByREUTERS
A view of the Syrian town of Kobani is pictured from the Turkish border town of Suruc, in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, October 31, 2019.

Tension over refugees takes center stage in Turkey ahead of elections

Both the Turkish president and the main opposition have said they want Syrians to return to their war-torn country.

MAY 12, 2022ByKRISTINA JOVANOVSKI/THE MEDIA LINE
TURKISH PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses supporters during a ceremony in Istanbul, last year.

Turkey wants Syrian refugees to leave — will this destabilize Syria? - analysis

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the voluntary repatriation of one million Syrian refugees is on the government's agenda.

MAY 4, 2022BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Syrian refugees that crossed the land borders between Greece and Turkey, are detained by Greek soldiers near the town of Soufli, Greece, March 4, 2020.

Turkish UAV drone stops 1.5 tons of marijuana being smuggled out of Syria

Using a UAV to track and catch drug smugglers at sea represents a unique capability for the Turkish employment of UAVs, which can stay aloft for many hours and scan wide areas.

MAY 17, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Marijuana plants Border Police found and burnt on May 3 2020 in the Negev, the plants were grown inside an IDF training zone

Turkey’s anti-French incitement underpins protests in Syria

The tense atmosphere in Syria illustrates how extremists are popular from Idlib to Jarabulus to Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. This is a swath of Syria where ISIS was once in control or had influence.

OCTOBER 31, 2020BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the re-opening of the Ottoman-era Yildiz Hamidiye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, August 4, 2017

Turkey accused of widespread attempt to undermine European democracy

Ankara’s attempt to silence dissidents abroad appears to affect almost every Western country – and most of those countries struggle to keep up their protections of free speech and protests.

JUNE 30, 2020BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the re-opening of the Ottoman-era Yildiz Hamidiye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, August 4, 2017