Fascinating survey of Syrian public opinion by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. Found through @abuaardvark.bsky.social's Substack newsletter (which is also fascinating). arabcenterdc.org/resource/ara...

A new DIIS report maps the patchwork of armed political actors in Syria after Assad’s exit. Get to know the competing power centres and their transnational ties to understand Syria’s transition 👉 www.diis.dk/en/node/27819 @hetavrojan.eu @monakanwalsheikh.bsky.social

Also featured in our newsletter yesterday mailchi.mp/eadi/nl2augu...

My report "Syria in Transition" is live. This is a field guide to Syria 2.0. It maps how domestic and external actors are asserting control in competing power centres. Made possible by @monakanwalsheikh.bsky.social, our team at @diis.dk & the peer reviewers. Thank you. → www.diis.dk/en/research/...

Black Hawk was attacked by cocaine-trafficking group. “This is the first drone attack we’ve heard of in Antioquia,” www.wsj.com/world/americ...

My latest argues that the ceasefire may have stopped the shooting, but it’s no return to normal. Syria has changed at its core, and without tackling the underlying causes, this calm won’t hold. en.majalla.com/node/326545/...

Quick backdrop: Iraq halted oil exports via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in March 2023 after an international arbitration ruling found Turkey in breach of the agreement for allowing independent KRG exports without Baghdad’s approval.

Turkey has announced it will terminate its 1973 oil pipeline agreement with Iraq, effective July 2026. While framed as a legal move, the decision is likely a strategic manoeuvre in ongoing energy negotiations with Baghdad.

#OTD From my private collection Turkish airborne propaganda leaflets dispersed at the beginning of the Turkish amphibious and airborne operation to Cyprus on 20 July 1974. Turkish Special Operations Department prepared 12 leaflets in 5 colours

There are "real fears that Syria is heading towards being broken up into statelets,” a senior Gulf Arab official told Reuters. Great dispatch from Maya Gebeili. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

@ajaltamimi.bsky.social Hi Aymenn, would you mind following back for a quick DM exchange? Thanks!

New: some observations from a meeting with media activist/spokesman for 'mainstream' Druze al-Suwayda' faction Liwa al-Jabal, focusing on the issue of relationship between al-Suwayda' factions and the Syrian central government/Ministry of Defence www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/the-druze-...

‘Shot in the head, as if executed’: four days of violence end with hundreds dead in southern Syria www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

"Turkish officials have not shared any detailed timetable for the laying down of weapons. We do not know much more about the mechanisms and protocols used to receive and disarm ex-guerrillas, to collect, list and store weapons and ammunition..." substack.com/home/post/p-...

PKK’s leader wearing a greige Lacoste polo has absolutely broken my Kurdish WhatsApp channel. www.rudaw.net/turkish/midd...

Since December we have been investigating the Assad regime's killings in Saydnaya prison. Based on interviews with 21 former detainees, we show the extent of the atrocities committed in the prison, including an incident in March 2023 in which some 600 men were executed in one week:

If a sitting president can openly muse about arresting and disappearing someone who is likely to become mayor of the country's largest city, while also getting the funding for a massive secret police, it'd be hard to find sufficient evidence to qualify that country as a democracy.

Turkey is a gift to any summer news room. Many stories coming out these days. Among them, this curveball: www.reuters.com/world/middle...

1/ What happens when you give social data science students 821.6 GB of public vessel geolocation data (AIS) and just 9 hours to identify potentially suspicious behavior near the Danish coast? papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

"Was it really this dumb in 2003" guys they renamed french fries

The poli sci distinction between state and regime is important here. Israel’s bombing (as well as Iran’s policies in past 20 years) are hollowing out & chipping away at state capacity to govern and organize society. This does not mean it necessarily makes the regime weak.The state is Israel’s target

APNewsAlert: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — International Atomic Energy Agency says Israeli strikes had 'direct impacts' on Natanz underground centrifuge halls.

The UFO-curious teenager in me resists this, but secrecy culture has a way of cannibalising itself, basically turning bureaucratic dysfunction into cosmic mystery. Somehow, terrestrial failures look better when framed as extraterrestrial. www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

“Thank You President Trump… Make Syria Great Again” billboard in Damascus

This week, the 9th batch of Iraqis - 223 families, totaling 832 individuals - have left Al-Hol in Syria for Iraq. Almost 6000 Iraqis have left Al-Hol and Roj detention camps this year alone. www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/843...

The plan is for ~3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs to join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

»We’ve gone from eight bases to five to three. We’ll eventually go to one,« said US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack. english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-...

»In a meeting with FEMA staff, David Richardson said he was unaware the United States had a hurricane season. Two staff members said it was unclear if he was serious, but the agency said he was joking.« www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/u... david-richardson-hurricane-season.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Thrilled to announce my new article, "Symbolic Leverage: Nominating (Non)Veiled Women as an Electoral Competition Strategy in Polarized Turkey," is now published in @politicsgenderj.bsky.social and available as First View (Open Access)! 🇹🇷♀️🗳️ (Thread 👇) #SymbolicLeverage #TurkishPolitics

NEW: In @justsecurity.org, I assess the FBI's controversial new "nihilistic violent extremism" (NVE) framework. It's a worthwhile step forward — as long as it does not discount white supremacist violence, which remains America's gravest terrorist threat. www.justsecurity.org/113463/nihil...

A 28-year-old man has been remanded in a Danish terror case linked to Hamas and gang networks. He’s accused of buying drones intended for attacks in Denmark or abroad. PET says he’s a leading gang figure with ties to Hamas. pet.dk/pet/nyhedsli...

Erdogan seems to be having a good Trump II so far.

Peanuts for KSA & Qatar. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/w...

USIP take-over was illegal, says judge. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/u...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art returns sculptures to the Republic of Iraq. www.metmuseum.org/press-releas...

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK, and EU reject Israel’s GHF plan, insist on UN access to Gaza. www.gov.uk/government/n...

How Syria's interim government deals with violence against women and threats against feminists and advocates for women is a crucial litmus test. So far, it is failing. mailchi.mp/gc4hr.org/wo...

On the fear and hatred left behind by Assad’s police state, as seen on a single street in Tadamon, Damascus. Wonderful journalism on a tragic subject by @leloveluck.bsky.social, Zakaria Zakaria, and @salwangeorges.bsky.social, for @washingtonpost.com. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Reuters: "Syrian government forces raid Islamic State hideouts in Aleppo" www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Det stikker af i Tyrkiet denne uge. PKK siger stop for væbnet konflikt. Putin og Zelensky siger (måske) hej til hinanden i Ankara i morgen. Og demonstrationerne imod Imamoglus fængsling fortsætter. På DR2 Deadline havde de Tyrkiet på tapetet. www.dr.dk/drtv/se/dead...

UN’s Dujarric with a very diplomatic UN statement. On-brand, even. “The UN stands ready to help and facilitate any movement toward peace, but we do not need to impose ourselves if our involvement is not helpful.” turkiye.un.org/en/294213-un...

To the interest of checkpoint nerds 🚧 Last night, authorities carried out 1017 detentions across Istanbul. Tactics: A mixture between 215 fixed checkpoints, 2,769 personnel, police helicopters and five seaport branch boats. 335,231 people questioned. 1017 detained. www.diken.com.tr/istanbulda-1...

Mit første take på dagens store nyhed fra Tyrkiet. politiken.dk/internationa...

The PKK says it’s dissolving, but how do we know when an armed struggle ends? A super quick look at what history teaches us from the DDR literature on IRA and FARC, and why words alone aren’t the final chapter.

Breaking news: PKK declares disbandment, ending four-decade armed insurgency against Turkey bianet.org/haber/pkk-de...

They weren’t building a criminal empire. They were building a colony. I’ll see myself out. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Not joking when I say that even if Trump bombed the nuclear plant at Natanz he would probably upset a smaller cross-section of Iranians than he would by renaming the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf apnews.com/article/trum...

Oman announces US-Houthi ceasefire : "Neither side will target the other... ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping." Announcement is ambiguous about any Houthi commitment to stop attacking Israelis ships. uk.news.yahoo.com/oman-announc...

Arrest spree continues in Azerbaijan. Ulviyya Ali is yet another journalist arrested overnight. In addition, police arrested civic activist Ahmad Mammadli.

“Intelligence collection resources are inherently limited,” a former intelligence official said, meaning they have typically been pointed toward “perceived threats, not allied countries.” www.wsj.com/world/greenl...