Turkish historian Professor İlber Ortaylı critically analyses Syria’s governance and explores its sectarian dynamics and potential future. He points out that the Arab Alawite Nusayri minority, through a mafia-like structure, holds control over the country. This governance model has deeply impacted Syria’s socio-political framework. Ortaylı also suggests that Syria might …

The fall of Assad’s regime, while ostensibly surprising for many, was quite predictable. Syria’s economy had been devastated by more than a decade of war, compounded by sanctions that crippled state infrastructure and left 90 percent of Syrians below the poverty line. Moreover, state subsidies on essentials such as food …

After insurgents toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad this month, many senior officials and members of his dreaded intelligence and security services appear to have melted away. Activists say some of them have managed to flee the country while others went to hide in their hometowns. For more than five decades, …