POLITICS

DARAMSUQ (DAMASCUS) – This week, the Board of Trustees of the private Antioch Syrian Private University held a meeting in which they discussed the affairs of the university and preparations for mitigating the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on the upcoming academic year. The Board also discussed plans to expand in the…

DARAMSUQ (DAMASCUS) – Syrian intelligence services have arrested some 15 officers of various ranks in Daramsuq (Damascus) and environs on charges of dealing with foreign parties and embezzling Syrian state funds. The arrests come weeks after the arrest of employees of telecom mogul Rami Makhlouf, the maternal cousin of Syrian…

By Nicholas Danforth Originally published on 1 July 2020 by Project on Middle East Democracy  Here. SUMMARY • While most international attention has focused on Turkey’s military campaign against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, Turkey’s denial of Kurdish rights inside its own borders has intensified. • Over the past year…

SANTO DOMINGO – Lebanese-Dominican Syriac of the Maronite Church, Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) of the Dominican Republic, announced his victory in the country’s presidential election last Sunday. President-elect Abinader was born in the Dominican capital Santo Domingo in 1967 to parents Rosa Sula…

STOCKHOLM – With the Swedish public prosecutor officially closing the investigation into the murder of former Prime Minister Olof Palme, Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian (CSA) associations and institutions in Sweden asked for Sweden to settle its past and officially apologize to Kurds and other immigrant groups for the unfair accusations they were subjected…

This article was originally published by the BBC on 2 July 2020. The original can be found here. A Turkish court has delayed a decision on whether the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul can be converted into a mosque. The Council of State — Turkey’s highest administrative body — said it…

SÖDERTÄLJE, Sweden – Syriac Abraham Halef will take a seat in the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament, for the Socialdemokraterna (Social Democrat party). Abraham Halef (28) will take the seat in parliament as a substitute per 1 August. The new member of the Riksdag lives in Södertälje where he currently sits…

NEW YORK – The U.S administration has called for the extension of the arms embargo against Iran months before it is set to expire in October. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged all members of U.N. Security Council during a virtual meeting of the to extend the…

MESEBERG, Germany – French President Emmanuel Macron expressed concern over the worsening crisis in Libya on Monday, attributing the matter to Turkish and Russian interventions in the military conflict and the support of both countries to opposing warring parties. Macron went on to accuse Turkey of “re-imported extremist fighters from…

ZALIN (QAMISHLI), Syria – A delegation from the Syriac Union Party (SUP) in Syria met with representatives of the Kurdish National Council (KNC) at the KNC-office in Zalin (Qamishli).  The visiting delegation was headed by SUP Co-Chair Sanharib Barsoum and included SUP officials Afram Ishaq and Ablahad Gawriya. They were received…