U.S. Diplomats Abruptly Fired Amid Controversy Over Pro-Damascus Syria Policy Shift
U.S. diplomats Syria: Five persons with knowledge of the situation say that several of the top U.S. diplomats working on Syria (U.S. diplomats Syria policy shift 2025) have been unceremoniously dismissed from their positions in recent days. This is a shake-up that coincides with Washington’s efforts to merge its Syrian Kurdish allies with the central government in Damascus.
Tom Barrack, the U.S. special envoy for Syria and a close friend and advisor to President Donald Trump, was the person to whom all of the diplomats at the Syria Regional Platform (SRP), the de facto U.S. mission to the nation, who were stationed remotely in Istanbul.
U.S. diplomats Syria policy shift 2025
Since his appointment in May, Barrack has led a change in regional strategy in favor of a single Syrian state led by Islamist leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who came to power in a stunning coup late last year.
According to a U.S. embassy source who spoke to media, “a handful” of SRP employees were informed that their tours would be terminated as part of a team reorganization.
According to the source, the decision to remove them was not based on policy disagreements between the White House and the staff or Barrack, and the departures would not have an impact on U.S. strategy in Syria.
According to the sources, who also included two diplomats from the West and two Americans, the actions were abrupt, involuntary, and occurred at the end of last week. The formal justification for the actions was not disclosed to the media.
“Core staff working on issues pertaining to Syria continue to operate from multiple locations,” a State Department source said, adding that the agency does not comment on “personnel decisions or administrative reorganizations.”
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), commanded by Kurds, have been asked by ambassador Barrack to expedite the ratification of a March agreement with Sharaa to incorporate the SDF into national security forces and put regions they control under state control.
SDF RELUCTANT TO GO TO A HIGHER CONTROL LEVEL
Without providing any details, a Western diplomat said that “a divergence” in opinions between Barrack and staffers over the SDF and Sharaa was a contributing factor in the removal of the American officials.
Regarding this matter, the State Department remained silent. A straight statement from Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to NATO member Turkey, was not available.
Given many outbreaks of violence across Syria this year, some SDF officials have resisted American demands to join national security forces since they fought alongside the United States against Islamic State under former President Bashar al-Assad.
The SDF has persisted in calling for a less centralized administration in the post-Assad period, one in which they would maintain the autonomy they acquired during Syria’s civil war, although still fighting intermittently in the country’s northeast against Syrian and Turkish-backed troops.
On Tuesday, Barrack was in Damascus to supervise the foreign minister’s signature of a proposal to resolve a conflict with the southern Druze minority. Barrack subsequently said on X that “equal rights and shared obligations for all” will be supported by the proposal.
The SRP has been the de facto mission to Syria since Washington closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012. The U.S. consulate in Istanbul serves as its headquarters, and it also maintains offices around the area.