Syria Situation Report: June 25 - July 1, 2016

The White House issued a proposal for direct military partnership with Russia in an effort to reestablish a faltering political process to end the Syrian Civil War. The deal reportedly calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to halt his air campaign against opposition-held parts of the country. In exchange, the U.S. will share intelligence with Russia as part of a joint bombing campaign against ISIS and Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. The proposal appears to represent a major concession to demands from Russia for deeper cooperation from the U.S. in the fight against “terrorism” as part of its wider strategic objective to secure international legitimacy as a security guarantor in the Middle East at the expense of the U.S. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to normalize relations, ending months of diplomatic estrangement that occurred after Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet along the Syrian-Turkish Border in November 2015. The agreement comes amidst a wider change by Turkey away from the divisive foreign policy pursued under former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. President Erdogan and President Putin reportedly also agreed to deepen cooperation in the fight against “terrorism” in a signal that the deal may also affect the ongoing proxy conflict between the two countries inside of Syria.

This graphic marks the latest installment of our Syria SITREP Map made possible through a partnership between the Institute for the Study of War and Syria Direct. The control of terrain depicted in this graphic is accurate as of June 16, 2016.