Several senior U.S. diplomats assigned to the Syria Regional Platform (SRP) in İstanbul have been abruptly rotated out in recent days, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The moves come as Washington advances a policy track that would bring its Kurdish partners under the authority of Syria’s central government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The SRP has functioned as the de facto U.S. mission to Syria since the embassy in Damascus closed in 2012. It reports to Tom Barrack, appointed in May as both U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria. Barrack has advocated for a unified Syrian state and has urged non-state actors to enter national institutions. A U.S. diplomatic source described the staff changes as a routine reorganization that will not alter strategy, while Western diplomats and U.S.-based sources said the departures were sudden, involuntary, and carried out late last week. The State Department declined to discuss personnel matters but said core Syria work continues from multiple locations.
At the center of the friction is U.S. pressure on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to finalize a March framework that would fold its combat and internal security units into national structures. Supporters of the plan argue it could streamline command-and-control, curb fragmentation, and unlock steps toward economic normalization. Critics warn it risks diluting local autonomy won during the war and could expose Kurdish and allied Arab components if political guarantees are thin or sequencing is unclear. Some SDF leaders—who fought alongside the United States against ISIS during the former Assad era—have resisted ceding leverage before protections on governance, pay, and oversight are codified. Sporadic clashes this year in the northeast between SDF units and Syrian or Turkish-backed forces have sharpened concerns about potential security vacuums during any transition.
Barrack was in Damascus on Tuesday for the signing of a government plan aimed at defusing tensions with the Druze minority in the south. He later posted on X that the deal would ensure “equal rights and shared obligations for all,” presenting it as part of a broader de-escalation effort while national arrangements are negotiated.
The staffing changes matter because they signal an intent to align the SRP around accelerated integration, reduce mixed messages to local actors, and tighten execution from a mission that operates remotely
