Aleppo Conflict Timeline - September 2016

2022

The Battle of Aleppo is undoubtedly the most decisive battle in the exhausting war in Syria. Aleppo being the largest city in the country, adding here the heterogeneous ethno-religious structure of the population, became the strategic node where the fate of the war and the survival of the Assad regime, were largely determined. It is estimated that about 30 different anti-government groups operated in the city. In the most complicated position was the Kurdish-inhabited district, protected by the Kurdish Protection Units (YPG). The multidimensionality of the war will force them to change alliances and attitudes towards other warring parties

2019

Aleppo city has fallen. The Assad Regime has re-imposed its authority over eastern Aleppo. However, the relevancy of the Aleppo Governorate is no less diminished. As the war enters its eighth year, the majority of fighting has shifted north where the many actors have gathered to determine the fate of their claimed territories. Under the control of various militaries, both foreign and domestic, the nearly six million inhabitants of the region are left with little control over who governs them and how. This paper initially served as a response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement that American troops would be removed from Syria. Since then, it has grown into a larger project examining the many actors at play in the governorate, their motives and positions, and the effect US withdrawal will have on the existing balance of power. This paper attempts to detail the reality on the ground and provide insight into the complex nature of a war with shifting alliances and foreign proxies that provides little voice for the civilians who suffer most. Any lasting peace will have to guarantee the free return of all displaced people and equal political representation of all communities in the Governorate of Aleppo, including Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen. To view this paper as published on the Aleppo Project website, click here: https://www.thealeppoproject.com/papers/the-larger-battle-for-aleppo/

With what appears to be the imminent defeat of the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and the growing military gains of the Syrian government and its allies, the Syrian conflict may appear to be reaching its final stages. At least this is the message that President Vladimir Putin aimed to convey during the visit by Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Sochi in late November, where he declared that the “militants in Syria have sustained a decisive blow and now there is a realistic chance of ending the multi-year civil war”

2018

The war in Syria initially was an intrastate conflict between the Syrian government and internal armed rebel groups. However, the conflict escalated into an internationalized intrastate conflict when regional and global powers split into pro- and anti-Assad blocs and inserted themselves into the conflict.

President Bashar al-Assad has emerged victorious in the battle for Aleppo, after five years of fighting, killings and widespread destruction. It is the greatest victory for the government, and severest blow to the rebels, in the bloody civil war so far. Many commentators view the quick collapse of eastern Aleppo as the end of a long drawn out revolutionary episode unleashed by the Arab Spring, a disgraceful defeat of the prodemocracy forces and their regional and extraregional supporters. The meaning and significance of the rebels' elimination, in fact, go much deeper than that, and may be the prelude to a new Middle East regional order.

2013

In the wake of the Syrian conflict that has been ongoing for over five years, key cultural sites in the country have been rampaged including the Old city of Aleppo. Despite the tremendous local and international efforts to observe and document the damage to Syrian heritage, little attention is given to the time gap between the conflict and post-conflict reconstruction periods, during which irreversible damage may be inflicted on the heritage. It is of utmost importance to deliver first aid emergency measures once Old Aleppo is accessible in order to stabilize and secure assets, but also to pave the way for an inclusive post-conflict reconstruction process that meets the needs of the affected community.

2018

At the era of 21 st century, syrian civil war grew out of a popular uprising against the regime of president Bashar Al Assad in march 2011. It was the part of Arab spring uprisings in the middle-east. The relentless response of the security forces against peaceful protest demanding democratic reform of Syria. Gradually it turned into full scale civil war and many international players such the United States of America, Russia joined the war and make the war as proxy war.

2013

 The coalition of minorities around Assad has not disintegrated and the pillars of the regime remain in place. Assad has proved that he has the resolve to conduct effective campaigns against the rebels in a very hostile international environment, while continuing to rule and provide for the daily life of the population under his control. Two million Alawites also understand the implications of a Sunni Islamist regime in Syria, even one of the Egyptian model.

Strategic Assessment, Vol. 16, No. 2 (July 2013), pp. 35-46.

Religious Minorities in the Middle East, 2012

This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Middle East Quarterly, 2019