Syria

Turkey Ready to Provide Military Support to New Syria Government

Turkey is ready to provide military support to Syria's new Islamist-led government set up by rebels who overthrew Bashar al-Assad if it requests it, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday. He said the new leadership should be given "a chance" and that Turkey was "ready to provide the necessary support if the new ...

Rai Urges Syrian Christians to Embrace Political and Social Role

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai stressed the need to “encourage Christians (in Syria) to get involved in national and political work.” In his Sunday homily in Bkerke, Archbishop Rai affirmed that “it is essential to unite all components of Syrian society to collaborate in rebuilding the country,” stressing the importance of “building a ...

Syrian Pubs Cautiously Reopen After Islamist Victory

The citizens of Damascus largely celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad's hated regime with joy, after 13 long years of brutal civil war. But the city's drinking holes did have one concern. The rebel army that overthrew the former leader was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group which some drinkers feared would forbid the sale of ...

Naim Qassem After Fall of Assad Regime: 'Hezbollah Lost Its Supply Lines Through Syria'

In a televised speech on Friday, his first since the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem acknowledged that “Hezbollah has lost its military supply route through Syria,” but emphasized that this loss was merely a minor detail and that a new supply route would be established. Qassem further ...

US Says in Contact With New Syria Rulers

The United States has made contact with Syria's victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday, despite previously designating the group as terrorists. Blinken's comments, after talks on Syria in Jordan, came as Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after the Islamist-led rebels toppled ...

Turkey Reopens Embassy in Syria as Diplomats Gather for Talks

Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, nearly a week after president Bashar al-Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria's civil war. The move came as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats were meeting in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria, and a day after ...

Arab FMs Urge Support for Inclusive, 'Peaceful' Syria Transition

Top diplomats from eight Arab countries, meeting in Jordan on Saturday, called for a peaceful transition in Syria with UN and Arab League support following Bashar al-Assad's ouster. In a final statement after the talks in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, foreign ministers from Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab ...

Syria’s Empty Treasury Shifts Focus to Frozen Assets Abroad

A few days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Syrian pound made a dramatic recovery against the US dollar in local markets, trading between 13,000 and 15,000 pounds per dollar. This rebound followed months of sharp devaluation, with the exchange rate previously collapsing to nearly 60,000 pounds per dollar on the black ...

Russian Forces Begin Withdrawal From Bases in Syria

Russian forces in Syria are reportedly preparing to evacuate their bases, according to satellite images obtained Friday by AFP from Maxar Technologies, following the ousting of former president and Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad by Syrian rebels last week. Russia, which has been militarily involved in the Syrian conflict since 2015, maintains a ...

UN Envoy Warns Against Syria Collapse at Crisis Talks

A UN envoy on Saturday urged foreign powers to work to avoid a collapse of vital Syrian institutions following the downfall of Bashar al-Assad, as diplomats gathered in Jordan for a conference on the crisis. Geir Pedersen, the UN's special envoy for Syria, also backed a "credible and inclusive" political process to form the next government as he ...

SOHR Reports Israeli Strikes on Former Syrian Arab Army's Military Sites

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said Israel launched strikes early Saturday targeting military sites in Damascus and its countryside, in the latest such raids since rebels brought down Bashar al-Assad almost a week ago. "Israeli strikes destroyed a scientific institute" and other related military facilities in Barzeh, ...