1 February 2020
From their numerous “observation posts” dotted across northern Syria, Turkish troops watch idly as Assad and Russia butcher and displace thousands of civilians. Why are they there at all?
معرة النعمان
Instead of publicly announcing a brief ceasefire that could allow thousands of Syrians to flee bombardment Tuesday, the UN communicated the news in a four-line email to NGOs.
In 2013 in Ma’arrat al-Nu’man, a statue of the famous local-born 11th-century poet al-Ma’arri was decapitated by jihadists as a symbolic threat to their moderate rivals. Today civil society activists have restored the site as a fledgling cultural center, imperiled by the same jihadists now effectively besieging the city.
The complete untold story of one Syrian town’s revolt against Al-Qaeda.