Tag Archives: Syria

The leaders of Germany and France called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to express their concern about the humanitarian situation in Syria’s Idlib region, urging an end to the conflict there, a German spokesman said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke together by phone with …

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday that the United States may send Patriot missile systems to Turkey to use for security in the face of the conflict in northwestern Syria’s Idlib region. Speaking in an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Akar said talks with the United States on …

I’ve written previously about Ammar Al-Masry’s novels Shadows of Atlantis and Throne of Atlantis, so it only seems fair to write about the third and supposedly final instalment in the New World series, Heart of Atlantis (2019). I’d finished reading the novel the previous year but held out on writing …

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior members of Congress held talks in Jordan on Saturday with King Abdullah II and other top Jordanian officials. Pelosi said in a statement the visit was at “a critical time for the security and stability of the region… With the deepening crisis …

Dr. Haytham Mouzahem, head of Beirut Centre for Middle East Studies talks to International Affairs Review on the current situation in Syria and the Turkish military operations and the implications for the region.   Please walk us through what is happening right now in north east Syria. Turkey has been invading areas …

Russia has promised Ankara that the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey’s military is targeting, will not be in the Syrian territories across the border, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying on Thursday. Russia “promised that the PKK or YPG will not be on the other side …

America’s On-Off relationship with Turkey once again took a 180 degree turn as President Trump moved several dozen US Special Forces from the Turkish-Kurdish controlled Syrian border so Turkish military forces could enter Syria in what Turkey calls “Operation Peace Spring.” The Kurds, key US allies in defeating ISIS in …

Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister said on Thursday he discussed regional security and military cooperation with senior U.S. government officials at a time of heightened tension with Iran following last month’s attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Saudi Arabia and the United States blamed common foe Tehran for the Sept. 14 …

By Damir Nazarov   While Erdogan seeks to hold meetings with Putin and sometimes Rouhani in relation to Syria every two months, the Turkish occupants are actively pursuing a policy of assimilation of the Syrian cities captured during two interventions. For example, on the twelfth of February, the deputy governor of …

Turkey will carry out an operation east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria, in an area controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. Turkey has been running out of patience with the United States, which made an agreement with Ankara to implement a …

Russia’s air force helped the Syrian army to repel attacks carried out by militants in the Idlib province on Sunday, TASS news agency reported on Monday, citing a senior defense ministry official. Militants carried out two attacks on Syrian government forces’ positions using tanks and armored vehicles on July 28, …

Syrian authorities have released a U.S. citizen and he has been handed back to his family, thanks to the mediation of Lebanon, a Lebanese security official said on Friday. The security official did not give the name of the released American, but he was later identified as Sam Goodwin, 30, …

Five people were lightly wounded after one of two rockets thought to be fired from within Syria landed on a house in a Turkish border town on Monday night, the provincial governor’s office said. The Defence Ministry said on Twitter that Turkish forces had responded to the rocket fire and …

The crew of the British-flagged Stena Impero tanker seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are all safe, the head of the Ports and Maritime Organisation of Iran in Hormozgan Province told state TV on Sunday. “All 23 crew members aboard the ship are safe and in good health in Bandar Abbas …

At least 544 civilians have been killed and over 2,000 people injured since a Russian-led assault on the last rebel bastion in northwestern Syria began two months ago, rights groups and rescuers said on Saturday. Russian jets joined the Syrian army on April 26 in the biggest offensive against parts …

A Russian fighter jet made a dangerous high-speed pass that put a U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft at risk during an intercept over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. Sixth Fleet said, but Moscow said its pilot had behaved responsibly. “While the Russian aircraft was operating in international airspace, this …

By Firas Samuri*   On June 2, Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Israeli aggression on the T4 airbase, located in the eastern countryside of Homs province. It’s recognized that the Syrian Air Defense System managed to destroy two missiles. The remaining rockets hit targets on the territory of the …

The Kremlin on Monday rebuffed criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump of Russian and Syrian government military action in Syria’s Idlib province, saying it was justified. Trump on Sunday urged Russia and Syrian government forces to stop bombing Idlib, following a Friday Kremlin statement that signaled Moscow would continue to …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib must be implemented to prevent more civilian deaths and an influx of refugees to Turkey, a statement from Erdogan’s office said. Erdogan told Putin over the phone on Thursday that Syria needed a political …

U.S. forces have quietly sent at least 30 suspected foreign Islamic State fighters captured in Syria last year and in late 2017 to stand trial in Iraq, interviews with the men, Iraqi sources and court documents show. FILE PHOTO: Islamic state fighters and their families walk as they surrender in …

by Graham E. Fuller – If the rise of strong new powers like China poses a challenge to the older US-dominated geopolitical order, what about about the converse? The challenge to the international order created by a declining and erratic great power ever more at odds with an emerging new …

by Areej Zaher*   President Trump has announced recently his intention of withdrawing US troops, estimated at about 2000, from Syria. This put him under the mercy of criticism by his own administration. This announcement came as he asserted the defeat of Islamic State. This led to a dispute among …

Ibrahim Alalou   Halavah, A Middle Eastern sweet meal made from crushed sesame seeds and garnished with nuts.   Sesame Street was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett in 1969. The long running American children’s television series was broadcast in more than 140 countries. In 2001 there were over …

Those who thought that the US was doomed to stay in Syria indefinitely (as was mentioned by the Pentagon last week) were surprised when the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article saying that the US military had been ordered to leave Syria as soon as possible. The WSJ revealed …

By Areej Zaher* War and violence affected all, especially women and children. Whether it was internal, cross-border conflicts, religious or political, civilians will be caught in the firing line. And as a result, women will face life-threatening challenges. War can bring violence, sexual violence, abandonment, detention, physical injury or even …

By: Ibrahim Al Alou   A Syrian herbal tea blend(zouhorat shameea).زهورات شامية , In a world so stressed with caffeine consumption it is no wonder that many people turn back to local cultures for a relief. Natural plants blends had proven traits that had been passed through generations. In today’s story …

Turkey is uneasy about U.S. plans to set up “observation posts” in Syria along parts of its border with Turkey, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday the United States was setting up the posts to help keep the focus on clearing …

Russia, Turkey, and Iran will hold the next round of talks on Syria on Nov. 28-29 in Kazakhstan, Kazakh foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said on Monday. Delegations of the Damascus government and the Syrian rebels are also set to attend, Abdrakhmanov told reporters. Source: Reuters

The United States’ support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia is a “big mistake”, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said late on Saturday, adding that the issue had strained ties between the NATO allies. Turkey has been infuriated with Washington’s support for the YPG, which it views as an extension …

At least forty people, mostly women and children were killed on Saturday in the latest wave of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against the last remaining Islamic State-held pocket in Syria near the border with Iraq, the militants and some local residents said. Asked about reports of air strikes in the Buqan …

By: Ibrahim AL Alou*   What do say about a drink that has the strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea and the euphoria of chocolate all combined in one drink? Seems strange a bit but there is such a drink that delivers all these benefits at once. It …

The Trump administration hopes that the U.S.-backed fight against Islamic State in its last foothold in northeastern Syria will end within months but American forces will remain to ensure the “enduring defeat” of the militant group, a top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday. Ambassador James Jeffrey, the U.S. special representative …

By: Ibrahim AL Alou*   The sisters of Noah, Lebanon. They witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations, stood against plagues and epidemics, greeted the sun rising and setting down over thousands of days, yet stood defiant in glory and glamour. These are the oldest olive trees alive bearing their soulful …

By Areej Zaher*   The World Bank has reported that the Syrian conflict, till 2017, had disastrous effects on about a third of the residents and half of the medical and educational institutions, as a result of the collapse of vital economical systems. This caused the ending of 538 jobs …

The global chemical weapons watchdog will in February begin to assign blame for attacks with banned munitions in Syria’s war, using new powers approved by member states but opposed by Damascus and its key allies Russia and Iran. The agency was handed the new task in response to an upsurge …

By: Ibrahim AL Alou*   I took this picture yesterday at the market showing fresh raw Syrian truffles. Truffles are rare. Since they are wild and could not be commercially cultivated people pick them with passion and eventually demand premium prices. The French gourmet Jean Anthelme Briallat-Savarin called it “The …

The Syrian army has rescued a group of 19 women and children who were abducted by Islamic State in the Syrian city of Sweida in July, Syrian state television reported on Thursday. The group was freed in an area northeast of the desert city of Palmyra, in what state television …

Lebanese exporters hoping to send their goods to the lucrative Gulf market through the reopened Syrian-Jordanian border are grappling with higher Syrian customs duties and competition from producers who have taken their place. The Oct. 15 reopening of the Nassib border crossing holds out the prospect of a much-needed boost …

By Areej Zaher*   The retreat of Isis, about a year ago, from eastern Syria and Mosul in Iraq wasn’t much of a relief, as a result of its latest attacks on the Swaida governorate in the south west of Syria. Maybe it’s too soon to determine the decisive battle …

Hundreds of Druze Arabs, some carrying Syrian flags, gathered outside the gates of a polling station on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, trying to block their townspeople from voting in municipal elections. Israeli police wearing helmets cleared a path for would-be voters outside the balloting center in Majdal Shams. …

Turkish forces bombarded Kurdish YPG militia positions on the eastern shore of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Sunday. The move comes two days after President Tayyip Erdogan issued what he said was a “final warning” to those who would endanger Turkey’s borders, saying …

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a “final warning” for U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters to retreat from sensitive border areas of Syria as he prepared to host world leaders in the search for a negotiated end to the nation’s seven-year conflict. The president has repeatedly accused the U.S. of delaying implementation of …

A Japanese freelance journalist held hostage by militants in northern Syria for three years has been freed and has confirmed he is safe and well. In a video sent from the Turkish border, Jumpei Yasuda spoke in English and gave his name, confirming he had been held hostage for 40 …

Daesh has released two women and four children among 27 surviving Druze hostages it seized during a deadly July attack on the minority community’s heartland in southern Syria. State television broadcast footage of the six arriving in the city of Sweida on Saturday, joyful at being reunited with their families …