Syria has since elected a new transitional president, creating an opening for renewed US diplomacy efforts ... was disappointed by the level of the delegation that Russia sent to Turkey.

MUSTAFA KUTLAY is a Senior Lecturer at City St George’s, University of London, a Senior Scholar at Istanbul Policy Center, and a co-author, with Mina Toksoz and William Hale, of Industrial Policy in Turkey: Rise, Retreat and Return.

Two recent developments present the new Syrian government with a critical opportunity to stabilize the country. First, US President Donald Trump announced plans to lift sanctions on Syria. Second, the Kurdistan Workers' Party declared it would disband and dissolve itself — a move that will help Damascus to finalize a deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces and integrate it into the new Syrian national army.

COMMENTARY: The Vatican and the White House seem to be on the same page when it comes to the peace and survival of Christians in the Middle East.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, the United States and Syria will meet in southern Turkey on Thursday to discuss details of U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to lift sanctions on Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday.

There’s more to Donald Trump’s Middle East trip than billion-dollar contracts, parades of camels and a storm back home over Qatar’s offer to give the president a new Air Force One.

The high-stakes meeting comes just months after al-Sharaa assumed power in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

US President Donald Trump met with Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, a White House official said, a day after a surprise announcement that he was lifting sanctions on Damascus. A US official said the two leaders were meeting ahead of a larger gathering of Gulf Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia during Trump's tour of the region.

US President Donald Trump met with Syrian interim president Ahmad al Sharaa, a US and UN-designated terrorist and the former leader of Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, and committed to removing US sanctions on Syria.

During his Middle East trip, Trump met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and considered removing sanctions on Syria, possibly meeting its president. He also hinted at a Turkey detour to aid Ukraine-Russia peace talks.