The Syrian political opposition’s highest body elected Hadi al-Bahra as its new president this month, in a process overshadowed by leaks, controversy and allegations he was hand-picked by an influential group of politicians linked to Ankara.
Drug use is on the rise in northwestern Syria, where addiction is fueling intimate partner and family violence against women with few resources to turn to.
In Deir e-Zor province, nearly two weeks of clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Arab clans calling for self rule have come to an end, but residents are uneasy about what the future holds “after the clans were defanged.”
On the stage and in the camps, volunteer actors, directors and playwrights in northwestern Syria work to develop a local theater scene and leave an impact on their community.
In Afrin, there is a widespread trade in properties belonging to displaced residents known as “cost houses,” which are sold by Ankara-backed military factions and civilians for “dirt cheap” prices: the cost of repairs.
When Turkish-backed opposition forces took control of most of Afrin in 2018, villages on its outskirts became a line of contact with regime forces. There, residents face repeated shelling and cannot access their farmland, once their main livelihood.
IDLIB, ISTANBUL — More than 12 years ago, Mira al-Muhammad [...]
Following the killing of five Kurds in Jenderes by Turkish-backed forces in March, HTS intervened in SNA territory for the second time in six months, underscoring al-Jolani’s ambitions of territorial expansion and highlighting his use of ethnic and religious minorities to make a case for himself.
Damascus’ Decree 3 of 2023 provides tax exemptions and loans for those whose property was damaged or destroyed by the February 6 earthquake, but does not take into account displaced property owners and rights-holders or areas outside regime control, writes lawyer Manhal Alkhaled.
Twelve years after the Syrian revolution began, formal opposition political and service institutions are wholly reliant on Turkey, impacting service provision and governance in the areas they administer.
