An SDF-Damascus agreement is underway in Aleppo’s Kurdish neighborhoods, which could serve as a proving ground for the success of a broader agreement in northern Syria.
Since the Assad regime fell, repeated local and international calls for the new government in Damascus to provide guarantees for Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities have sparked controversy and fueled hate speech.
Dr. Yasser al-Aiti, the leader of the New Syria Movement party, discusses the current priorities in Syria, the role of political parties and the international community’s response to Assad’s fall.
Christians in Damascus prepare for the Christmas holiday with a mixture of hope for a new Syria and wariness about the country’s leadership.
As HTS promises a new approach, Christians in Aleppo city are weighing assurances of protection against difficult memories. As opposition forces took control over the weekend, some fled, fearing the worst from Islamist factions.
When Suwayda’s protest movement began in August 2023, it met with echoes on the Syrian coast, where “a chorus of individual voices” openly criticized the regime from a region considered Assad’s base. But while Suwayda’s uprising continues, the voice of the coast has waned. Why?
After years of violations, HTS aims to adopt a new policy of openness towards Idlib’s minorities, returning some seized properties and encouraging Christians and Druze to return. Still, discrimination persists and the hardline group has not compensated property owners for years of losses.
Six months after four members of a Kurdish family were shot and killed by Turkish-backed fighters while celebrating the Nowruz holiday in Afrin, the accused killers are still on trial. Surviving family members face constant threats and physical attacks to pressure them to drop the case or leave Afrin.
