91��̳ - Syria

Syria: Ahmed al-Sharaa’s regime is failing to unite the country, says Rojava revolutionary leader

Peter Boyle — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 08:45:00 +1000

Rojava revolutionary leading figure Salih Muslim told 91��̳’s Peter Boyle that Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Syrian Transitional Government, under pressure from Turkey, was retreating from a previously agreed process to unify the country.

Tensions rising between SDF and Syrian regime forces

Rojava Information Center — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:15:00 +1000

There have been clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Caretaker Government forces in parts of northeast Syria, while drones have been flying over Kurdish majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo, reports the Rojava Information Center.

Conflicting futures for Syria’s Kurds and other minorities?

Sarah Glynn — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 17:45:00 +1000

Two days after meeting with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, the Syrian government announced it was pulling out of a planned meeting with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Sarah Glynn reports.

Suwayda’s resistance and the struggle for Syria’s future

Sarah Glynn — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 06:45:00 +1000

A week of brutal sectarian violence in Suwayda, in southern Syria, has left more than 1000 people dead, during which disparate Druze factions united against the Syrian government and Israel further consolidated its grip on the region. Sarah Glynn reports.

First official Rojava administration delegation to Damascus sparks hope for progress towards a united Syria

Peter Boyle — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 13:45:00 +1000

A senior delegation from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES/Rojava) had its first official meeting with the central government of Syria, on June 1, reports Peter Boyle.

Interim constitution, massacres set back plans for a unified Syria

Salih Muslim — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 20:00:00 +1100

Salih Muslim, a prominent Rojava revolutionary leader and foreign affairs spokesperson of the Presidential Council of the Democratic Union Party, speaks to 91��̳’s Peter Boyle about the serious setbacks to building a new Syria.

Rojava joins historic partnership to build a new Syria

Peter Boyle — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:45:00 +1100

Peter Boyle reports on the historic agreement struck between the revolutionary forces in northeastern Syria, known as Rojava and Syria's transitional government.

Syria and the future of the Middle East

Khaled Ghannam — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 18:45:00 +1100

The future of Syria and the Middle East is complex and uncertain, argues Khaled Ghannam.

The fall of Assad and the future of Syria: An interview with Joseph Daher

Joseph Daher — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 09:45:00 +1100

Brazilian socialist Israel Dutra interviews Swiss-Syrian activist and academic Joseph Daher about the situation in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Kurds defend the gains of the Rojava revolution amid regime change in Syria

Peter Boyle — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 11:45:00 +1100

Members of the Kurdish community and their allies held an emergency rally at Sydney Town Hall to defend the gains of the Rojava revolution, reports Peter Boyle.

Video: Turkish dictator Erdogan weaponises earthquake disaster against Kurds

Peter Boyle — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 21:15:00 +1100

Turkish dictator President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is using the earthquake disaster as a weapon in his ongoing war on the Kurdish people according to Zerebar Karimi.

Cover up of civilian deaths from US airstrikes exposed

Barry Sheppard — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 15:30:00 +1100

The deaths of thousands of civilians killed in US drone strikes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria were covered up by the Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations, reports Barry Sheppard.

Continuing the war in Syria

Yanis Iqbal — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +1000

The involvement of external powers in Syria's civil war has led to sheer devastation, writes Yanis Iqbal. Fantasies of "regime change" have fuelled sectarian war and revived jihadi groups.

War-torn Syria faces severe COVID-19 threat

Chris Slee — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 15:00:00 +1000

War-torn Syria faces the danger of a potentially very severe COVID-19 crisis. But in the north and east of the country, the Autonomous Administration is working hard to stop the spread of the virus and save lives, writes Chris Slee.

Escalating war in Idlib creates new refugee crisis

Chris Slee — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 13:30:00 +1100

The escalating war in Idlib has forced another million people to flee the northern Syrian province, but Turkey and Greece have closed their borders to these desperate refugees, writes Chris Slee.

Syria: Refugee crisis as Assad's forces advance

Chris Slee — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 16:45:00 +1100

The Bashar al-Assad regime has captured more than a third of Idlib, a province in north-western Syria, which had been controlled by rebels. Chris Slee writes that in the process, about 900,000 people have been displaced according to United Nations figures.

Syria: People of Idlib resist Assad, Islamists

Chris Slee — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 11:15:00 +1100

A popular uprising has broken out in Idlib, a province in the north of Syria, against the reactionary Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), according to Leila al-Shami, a well known Syrian activist and author.

The uprising began in the town of Kafar Takharim, when people refused to pay increased taxes imposed by HTS on goods and services, including bread, electricity and olive oil. They stormed HTS-controlled olive presses and police stations and evicted HTS from their community.

Australia must cut military ties with Turkey

Zerebar Karimi — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 12:00:00 +1100

If Prime Minister Scott Morrison is as concerned about refugees as he claims to be, then Australia should condemn Turkey's invasion of Syria and secure emergency aid for those being forced to flee the region.

Turkey launches genocidal invasion of Rojava

Tony Iltis — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 16:00:00 +1100

The horrific violence that has been devastating Syria for the past eight years is intensifying, writes Tony Iltis. On October 9, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave the order to NATO’s second largest army to begin the shelling and aerial bombardment of civilian populations of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AA).

Syria: Assad fails to recapture Idlib

Chris Slee — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 18:15:00 +1000

The Bashir al Assad regime has made little progress in its attempt to recapture rebel-held territory in northwestern Syria. Rebels continue to control most of Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces, writes Chris Slee.

British singer Joss Stone performs a concert in Rojava

Stuart Munckton — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 16:00:00 +1100

Famous British singer Joss Stone performed a concert in the largely-Kurdish region of Rojava in northern Syria after sneaking across the border.

Kurdish women fighters brought to life on the big screen

Barry Healy — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 17:30:00 +1100

This is a war film unlike any other that you will see, written and directed by a woman, focusing on a squad of the Kurdish autonomous women’s protection units (YPJ). The systematic female enslavement and mass rape by ISIS are its subject matter.

Turkey threatens northeast Syria

Chris Slee — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 16:45:00 +1100

US president Donald Trump announced by tweet on December 19 his intention to withdraw US troops from Syria. This followed a phone call between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had often stated his intention to invade north-eastern Syria.

Syria: Will the Russia/Turkey deal on Idlib hold?

Chris Slee — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 16:45:00 +1100

Russian president Vladimir Putin, the main backer of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has supported the rebels seeking to overthrow Assad, in the southern Russian town of Sochi on September 17.

Idlib is not the end of the story

Reza Akbari — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 16:00:00 +1000

What is happening in Syria? More than half a million people have died since the war in Syria began in 2011. Five million Syrians have sought refuge abroad and more than 6 million have been internally displaced.

In Syria, Idlib defies Assad

Chris Slee — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 13:45:00 +1000

Large rallies were held in towns throughout Idlib on September 14 in response to the threat by the Assad regime to invade the province in Syria’s north-west.

Idlib is currently controlled by a mixture of rebel groups. The strongest is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an extremely reactionary Islamist group that controls 60% of the province.

Syria: Assad threatens Idlib while Afrin resists Turkish occupation

Chris Slee — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 09:15:00 +1000

The Assad regime and its allies have been building up their forces around the rebel-held Idlib province, in Syria’s north-west, in preparation for a major offensive. Some bombing raids have already been carried out in the south and west of the province.

Rojava revolution will democratise Syria

Stuart Munckton — Sun, 22 Jul 2018 15:30:00 +1000

The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) is an umbrella group of left-wing organisations in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran that adhere to the ideology of Kurdish revolutionary leader Abdullah Ocalan (known as “Apo”), currently in jail in Turkey. Forces associated with the KCK have helped lead the Rojava Revolution in Syria’s north, which marked its sixth anniversary on July 19, the day Kurdish-led forces staged an insurrection.

In Manjib, ‘we have organised our own life with great hope’

Bêrîtan Sarya — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 15:15:00 +1000

Manjib is an ethnically diverse city in northern Syria. In 2014, it was occupied by ISIS (also known as Daesh). In 2016, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, an alliance of armed groups supporting the model of grassroots democracy associated with the Rojava Revolution) had liberated the city.

Emel Dede is one of the Manbij Turkmen women who lived under the Syrian regime first, and then the Free Syrian Army and Daesh. She has been working for two years now for her future and the future of Manbij. She talked to Bêrîtan Sarya and Axin Tolhildan about this.

Turkey: After Afrîn occupation, Erdoğan dreams of empire

John Tully — Thu, 31 May 2018 16:45:00 +1000

The world is looking the other way as Turkey plans to build on its successful occupation of Afrîn to expand its power with a new round of ethnic cleansing, John Tully writes.

91������̳ - Syria