Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Syria Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on May 15, 2018, and transitioned some of our coverage to Peacebuilding Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Syrian conflict. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
Exploring the various ethnic and religious groups that make up the social fabric of Syrian society and, in some cases, are armed players in the war.
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Aron Lund, editor of the Carnegie Endowment’s Syria in Crisis page, provides an in-depth look at the Syrian Democratic Forces, their overall political agenda, the group’s masked connections to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party and what he believes to be their impending inclusion in the Geneva III talks.
Turkmen have been involved in Syria’s civil war since the beginning of the uprising, but the group has only recently come to prominence due to Russia’s military intervention. Aligned with Turkey against Assad and Russia, and too moderate to join with ISIS, the minority militia is getting hit from all sides.
Northeastern Syria’s autonomous Kurdish leadership has informed schools in the area they must teach core subjects in Kurdish. But while many of the area’s residents are proud to embrace their ethnic heritage, some worry about whether the change is sustainable in such a chaotic political environment.
If the international community truly wants the YPG to succeed, they need to steadily supply them with air support, argues Mecid Mohamed. This would allow Kurdish forces to pursue the same type of offensive strategy in Hasaka that they did with great success in Tel Abyad and Tel Timr earlier this year, where they defeated ISIS in less than two months.
An exclusive look at the evolution of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade through talking to members and locals in the Yarmouk Valley in southwestern Deraa.
Syria Deeply had the rare opportunity to speak to Palestinian refugees from Syria about becoming “double refugees” as they flee the violence there and seek security in Lebanon. At least 45,000 Palestinians have arrived in Lebanon from Syria since the civil war began, according to the U.N.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, shares her stories of life in the war. She recently moved to Damascus to continue her education, deciding to focus her college studies on prosthetics, which she hopes to use to help heal the injured in her country’s conflict.
Syria Deeply spoke to Druze in Sweida about the struggle to remain neutral following the death of one of their religious leaders. Still reeling from an attack by Jabhat al-Nusra earlier this summer, many are hesitant to join the uprising.
Suwar Magazine spoke to Suleiman Yousef, an Assyrian Christian and researcher who specializes in Syria’s minorities, about the local Assyrian community and the challenges it faces as hard-line Islamist groups gain more traction in the country.
Syria Deeply met with Palestinian refugees from Syria displaced to difficult conditions in Lebanese camps. More than 45,000 Palestinian refugees have been displaced from their camps in Syria to neighboring Lebanon.
Syria Deeply had the rare opportunity to speak to Druze – who find it increasingly difficult to maintain neutrality in the ongoing civil war – in the city of Sweida. Despite disputes within the community about whether to take a position, Syrian Druze are united in their concern about their future in the country.
Syria Deeply spoke to the Jafra Foundation about the civil war’s overlooked impact on Palestinian refugees in Syria.
Syria Deeply had a rare opportunity to hear from Palestinians enduring violence and starvation in the Yarmouk refugee camp.
Syria Deeply examines the ongoing attacks on Sufi shrines by armed groups in Syria.
Syria Deeply spoke to Syrians about returning to Tal Abyad after Kurdish fighters evicted ISIS.
Syrian Druze in the occupied Golan Heights view Israel’s Syria strategy with anger and caution, locals tell Syria Deeply.
Syria Deeply spoke with Chris Gunness, the spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), about the ongoing struggle of Palestinian refugees in the Yarmouk refugee camp and elsewhere in Syria.
As the conflict between Assad’s military and Syrian opposition forces escalates in Daraa, religious minorities fear persecution from both sides.
Syria Deeply talked to two women who fled ISIS-controlled areas of Syria to find out what wearing a burqa meant to them – and why they are happy to leave it behind.
“The recruitment is still ongoing under the excuse of defending the area and claims these children volunteered by themselves. ”.
Syria Deeply spoke with displaced Assyrian families who fled to Beirut after Jabhat al Nusra and ISIS arrived in their hometown of al-Hasakah. Many of them have relatives presently held hostage by ISIS.
“Nusra also provided headquarters for the ISIS fighters to enable them to penetrate the camp more easily, and they prevented the reinforcements sent by the free army from reaching the camp to support al-Aknaf brigades in standing against ISIS and clashed with them.”.
The Syrian Kurds’ willingness to sacrifice won them allies in the battle for Kobane. But obstacles remain to rebuild the city and translate military into political gains.
Touma, her husband and their three children preferred the risk of living in Maaloula to the pain of leaving home.
“There are a lot of people involved in the social media campaign who are cheerleaders of ISIS who are not formally associated with ISIS and who aren’t necessarily based in Iraq and Syria.”.
‘We hope that a speedy international intervention can save Kobani, because everyone knows that if it falls, there will be huge massacres’.
‘If these are the champions of the Sunni-Arab cause in Syria, an al-Qaida offshoot, then there is reason to be worried’.
Hamish de Bretton Gordon OBE, a chemical weapons expert focusing on the Syrian crisis and founder of London-based SecureBio, weighs in on what remains of the chemical stockpile in Syria and where authorities stand in securing them.
With Jordan limiting job opportunities and the UN reducing food aid, even middle-class refugees from war-torn Syria are asking how, and where, they can survive.
Mutlu Civiroglu, an analyst specializing in Syria and Turkey, spoke to us about the strategic dimension of the Kurdish fight, the rise of the YPG, and the complex role for Turkey in mix.
The battle for the ethnic-Kurdish city of Kobane on the Turkish-Syria border could see Iraqi Kurds join the fray in greater numbers after Turkey’s decision, a reversal of its previous policy.
Wolfgang F. Danspeckgruber on why Christians are being targeted in Syria and how the attacks impact the country as a whole.
Since the ISIS advance on Kobani, the Turkish government and aid agencies have been struggling to respond to the influx of more than 180,000 Syrian refugees into southern Turkey.
The battle for the Syrian border town of Kobane has pitted Turkey against its NATO allies, which want to see a more robust response to Islamic State’s offensive. US-led airstrikes appear to be checking the militants’ advance into the town.
‘I will never forget the night of September 27, 2014, when my mom came in, screaming, telling us to bring whatever we can carry.’.
Many local journalists fled Deir Ezzor when ISIS arrived – and the ones who stayed behind are forced to abide by the extremist group’s draconian rules.
As Kurds ask the U.S. to intervene, the militant Islamist group advances towards Kobani. How big would a victory be?
Considered Syria’s safest city, the coastal Alawite stronghold is slowly feeling the war’s pinch.
As the Sunni militants inch closer to the Turkish border, a new set of challenges faces Ahmet Davutoglu.
While military action could put the group on its back foot, it is ideology-driven and would continue to attract fighters – and carry out its brand of brutality.
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