Erdogan makes urgent appeal to West on grim 10-year mark of Syria’s war
Ankara desperately needs options to get out of the Syria quagmire, but the Turkish president's offer is likely to fall flat with the Biden administration.
Syrian resilience in face of ‘living nightmare’
This week marked the 10-year anniversary of the Syrian uprising and war. UN Syria Envoy Geir Pedersen commended the resilience of Syrians in facing a decade of “unimaginable violence and indignities,” including as many as 500,000 dead, 5.5 million refugees, 6.7 million internally displaced, chemical weapons attacks, sexual violence against women, torture and other atrocities.
In a sign of such resilience and bravery, Khaled al-Khateb reports from Syria that “opposition-held areas in northwestern Syria celebrated the 10th anniversary of the revolution — originally ignited March 18, 2011, in the southern province of Daraa — in a festive atmosphere. Hundreds of thousands of civilians took to the streets across these parts, affirming from the freedom squares that their journey persists. … The revolution’s banners filled the squares in the cities of Idlib, Azaz, al-Bab, Dana, Jisr al-Shughour and others.”
Erdogan’s appeal reveals long-standing divide with Moscow over Assad …
