INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES IN SYRIA

Any Institutional activities in the world
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AKDN Carries Out Several Projects in Seven Syrian Provinces

Sep 29, 2011

DAMASCUS, (SANA) - Agha Khan Network for Development (AKDN) carried out several activities in seven Syrian provinces in the period between April and July 2011 in the framework of the development cooperation agreement signed between the two sides.

In a press statement, AKDN Resident Representative Mohammad Sefo indicated that the Network has focused on implementing all the programs and initiatives in the way they were planned.

He affirmed that all the members of the work team are committed to the policy and approaches of the AKDN which reflects the Network's abidance by the development cooperation agreement as it forms the basis for the AKDN work in Syria.

He added that the number of the participants and the beneficiaries from all the programs of the Network and its development institutions during the first half of 2011 has reached more than 65 thousand persons.

He indicated that the AKDN has published a report about its work during the second quarter of 2011 to shed light on all of its activities and to provide information about the progress of the work in the Network's programs in Syria in an accurate and responsible way.

The projects of the AKDN covered the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Lattakia, Tartous and Sweida.

R. al-Jazaeri

http://www.sana.sy/eng/24/2011/09/29/372424.htm
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AKND Grants 10 Thousand Loans, Valuing SYP 1 Billion in Six Months

Oct 03, 2011

DAMASCUS, (SANA) - Agha Khan Network for Development (AKND) underlined that providing small funds has continued normally and according to the plan scheduled during the last period of the current year despite of the rueful events taking place in Syria.

The AKND spokesman said that more than 10,300 loans with a value of USD19.2 millions were provided and the number of the loans distributed over the second quarter of 2011 was 5,500 with a total value of SUD 10.1 millions.

"There are about 29, 000 agents dealing with the Network as other 8000 agents have joined it during the last six months" the spokesman said.

He added that after Tartous branch for small and medium sized loans, the Network opened Sweida branch last May as a new branch is expected to open in Aleppo soon.

The Network encompasses a group of development programs and international organizations, and aims at upgrading the living standards of people, and creating new job opportunities for the poor, and it also seeks to boost the economic, social and cultural situation in Syria in addition to more than 30 other countries around the world.

The Network signed a cooperation agreement for development with Syria in 2001 and its programs are implemented in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Lattakia, Sweida and Tartous.

R. Milhem / R. al-Jazaeri

http://www.sana.sy/eng/24/2011/10/03/373096.htm
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Health Minister, AKDN Resident Representative Discuss Cooperation

Nov 21, 2011

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Health Minister Dr. Wael al-Halqi said on Monday that the 11th five-year plan involves constructing 32 new hospitals across Syria, including one in al-Salamiya area in Hama governorate.

During a meeting with resident representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Syria Mohammad Seifo, Minister al-Halqi said that the hospital in al-Salamiya will serve as a model of partnership between general and civil sectors and international organizations like the AKDN.

The Minister said that the hospital will cost approximately SYP 2.2 billion, and that work is underway to find funding for the project in light of the unjust European sanctions that affected banking in Syria, hindering the flow of funding from abroad.

Al-Halqi lauded the standing cooperation between his ministry and the AKDN which included preparing the studies and designs for the hospital, along with other projects in the fields of nursing, health villages and rural development.

In turn, Seifo said that cooperation with the Health Ministry achieved remarkable results in various health projects, adding that the AKDN will continue to provide microloans to inhabitants of rural areas to improve their situation.

H. Sabbagh

http://www.sana.sy/eng/36/2011/11/21/383114.htm
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Agha Khan Institution Hands Model of Masyaf Citadel to General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums

Dec 14, 2011

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Agha Khan Institution for Cultural Cervices on Wednesday handed the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums a Model of Masyaf Citadel at the Cham Hall at Damascus-based National Museum.

General-Director of Antiquities and Museum Bassam Jamous said that heritage belongs to the whole humanity and what has been provided by the Institution in cooperation with the Directorate is quite important, particularly regarding the implementation of pioneer projects in the field of renovating some archeological sites.

Jamous clarified that the Directorate is working on several projects including establishing a unit of developing museums and e-documenting of the archeological sites and pieces in addition to establishing introductory centers inside the archeological sites.

R. Milhem / H. Said

http://www.sana.sy/eng/35/2011/12/14/388311.htm
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Launching Paper and Plastic Waste Recycling Project in Old Damascus Signed

Feb 01, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) - Ministry of State for Environment Affairs and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on Wednesday signed a memo of understanding on launching a Paper and Plastic Waste Recycling project in state schools in the old city of Damascus.

The first stage of the project includes sorting out waste at source through ensuring special containers at the public schools in Old Damascus, which will be followed by other projects that contribute to achieving sustainable development and preserving environment.

Minister of State for Environment Affairs Kawkab Sabah al-Daya said the project will provide more job opportunities and support to the poor families, underlining the importance of cooperation among all sides to raise environmental awareness.

Al-Daya added that the project will be launched throughout the Syrian provinces in the future, indicating that a comprehensive campaign to raise awareness on the importance of recycling solid waste will be launched at the same time.

AKDN Resident Representative in Syria Mohammad Mufdi Saifo reviewed the AKDN role in developing rural societies, taking into account environment conditions to preserve natural resources and rationalize the use of water in agriculture.

Deputy Governor of Damascus Ahmad al-Nabulsi stressed the governorate's readiness to provide support to protect the environment.

R. Raslan/H. Said

http://www.sana.sy/eng/27/2012/02/01/397931.htm
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Ministry of Health, AKDN Review Enhancing Cooperation in Nursing Sector

Feb 20, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Minister of Health Wael al-Halqi and Representatives of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on Monday discussed means of boosting bilateral cooperation in the health and nursing sectors, particularly developing human resources.

The two sides reviewed steps taken to activate the nursing capacity building program, in addition to possibility of funding the program in Tartous.

Minister al-Halqi added that the Ministry, in cooperation with different organizations inside and outside Syria, worked hard to train qualified nursing cadres, indicating to the support provided by the AKND to achieve the Ministry's goals.

For his part, AKDN Resident Representative in Syria Mohammad Saifo said that the AKDN will renew the five-year cooperation agreement signed with the Ministry of Health.

He said that the AKDN will fund al-Salamiyeh Hospital Project after the European Investment Bank stopped financing it and France retreated immediately after.

R. Raslan/ al-Ibrahim

http://www.sana.sy/eng/36/2012/02/20/401645.htm
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AKF participates in the Berlin meeting on Syria

UAE takes part in meeting on Syria in Berlin
The UAE took part in a preparatory meeting in Berlin on efforts to revitalize the growth of Syria's economy

WAM
Published: 00:48 March 17, 2012

1.Berlin The UAE took part in a preparatory meeting in Berlin on efforts to revitalize the growth of Syria's economy.

The meeting was held in compliance with recommendations by the recent Friends Of Syria conference, held in Tunisia last February.

The UAE was represented to meeting by Director of Economic Affairs and International Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Second Secretary at the UAE's Embassy in Berlin.

Representatives of the Syrian National Council, the League of Arab States and its members Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Tunisia and Jordan and donors such as the EU, the United States, Turkey, , International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) also took part in the Berlin meeting at the German Federal Foreign Ministry.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/gover ... n-1.995775
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MHI sends congratulatory message to the Syrian president

http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/04/18/413422.htm
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Enhancing Health, Educational Cooperation with AKDN Discussed

Jun 24, 2012

ALEPPO, (SANA) – Governor of Aleppo Mwafaq Khallouf reviewed with representatives of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) means of activating joint cooperation in education, health and development.

The governor hailed the AKDN efforts, expressing readiness to provide all necessary facilitations and to coordinate with all concerned sides to achieve more success and progress.

For his part, AKDN Resident Representative in Syria, Mohammad Saifo, underlined the great achievements of the Network over the last 10 years in economic, social and cultural domains.

Saifo said that the number of beneficiaries exceeded 296 thousand citizens in educational and health sectors.

He added that the value of the small loans granted by the Network estimated at SYP 7 billion, stressing that the Network will continue its work in Syria and cooperate with official authorities and citizens to achieve sustainable development.

R. Raslan/ Mazen

http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/06/24/427429.htm
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MHI's preface to the book: ‘Syria, Medieval Citadels Between East and West’ by Stefano Bianca (Aiglemont​)

Among the regions and countries of this world, Syria has been blessed with a particularly rich cultural and architectural heritage. Throughout history, its strategic geopolitical position meant that it became a territory disputed between East and West. At the same time, Syria also acted as an important bridge between Asian and Mediterranean civilisations, encouraging many forms of cultural, artistic and commercial interchange to take place. Here, the early generations of Muslims — inspired by the Qur’anic message but still unfettered by a heavy material heritage — created the basis for new cultural expressions and gave rise to a sedentary Islamic civilisation that absorbed and transformed many of the physical forms and structures inherited from it predecessors and infused fresh meaning into them.

The long record of hostilities between Christendom and the Muslim world, between European and New-Eastern kingdoms, should not obscure the fact that both civilisations were built upon a shared Mediterranean heritage — a legacy that extended from Greek philosophy and ancient scientific traditions to a variety of architectural and ornamental features inspired by late Roman architecture. During the early medieval period, these elements were subject to different but related interpretations in the two cultural systems that were to dominate the Mediterranean world for centuries. Another, even more fundamental reason for the underlying inner affinity of the two civilisations is to be found in the shared point of origin of the three monotheistic religions of Islam, Christianism and Judaism. All are linked to a common ancestor — Abraham — whose mythical presence has survived in the citadel of Aleppo. Islam, the most recent of the three revelations, has always acknowledged and confirmed the older religious traditions and has also provided, through its various regional cultures, successful models for religious and ethnic coexistence.

Such deep and abiding affinities demonstrate that so-called conflicts between East and West — whether past or present — are political or ideological constructs that have no real basis in deeper cultural and religious fact. Beyond and apart from the controversies highlighted by contemporary observers (and acerbated by modern nationalistic concepts originally alien to Islam [click here for the Aga Khan's views on the Islamic concept of statehood]) there has always been a tradition of cultural exchange, tolerance and mutual understanding — even during conflictual situations such as the invasion by the Crusaders. It is this ‘subterranean’ tradition of multicultural symbiosis and of tolerant pluralism, as exemplified by the cultural history of Syria, which needs to be brought to light again, in order to overcome stereotypical prejudices that aggravate any real or imaginary conflicts that may still exist.

Through the work of its various institutions, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) has always attempted to act as a connector between ‘East’ and ‘West’ in terms of its cultural initiatives, and between ‘North’ and ‘South’, as far as social and economic development projects are involved. While these activities have long been concentrated in Pakistan, India and East Africa, new initiatives in Central Asia (Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) and in the Arab world (Egypt and Syria) have been added in recent years.

In Cairo, the conversion of a thirty-hectare barren site at the heart of the historic metropolis into a major urban park has become the catalyst for an innovative and far-reaching urban rehabilitation process in the adjacent quarters of the Fatimid city. In Syria, good progress has been made with the conservation of three major citadels as cultural and tourist assets and as resources of civic pride. Moreover, an urban area development project around the citadel of Aleppo has been launched in cooperation with the local authorities, and further adaptive reuse projects for landmark buildings in the old cities of Aleppo and Damascus are under discussion with the Syrian government. These activities have been complemented by initiatives in the fields of health care, early childhood education, agriculture and micro-credit undertaken by other AKDN institutions in the areas of Aleppo, Masyaf, Salamiya and Lattakia.

I am grateful to the Syrian authorities for their vigorous support of the conservation projects on the three citadels described in the present book and I am sure that these buildings, now returned to their full splendour, will reinforce Syria’s unique cultural heritage record.

His Highness the Aga Khan IV

http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10115/
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AKTC's collaboration with World Monument fund highlighted in concern for the survival of world heritage

Excerpt:

"Already the massive iron doors to the city’s immense medieval Citadel have been blown up in a missile attack, said Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund, an organization that works to preserve cultural heritage sites.

The fund has collaborated for more than a decade with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the Syrian government’s Cultural Ministry and German archaeologists in excavating and restoring the site."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/arts/ ... h_20120816
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The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)

Government, Aga Khan Development Network Discuss Situation of Projects Under Construction...Al-Halqi to Workers Union: Syrian Economy is Stable
Sep 19, 2012
DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Prime Minister, Wael al-Halqi, expressed the Government's appreciation and gratitude to Aga Khan Development Network for the support it provides to Syria in terms of development, social, cultural and health projects as well as humanitarian aid.

During his meeting on Wednesday with Resident Representative of the Network, Mohammad Mufdhi Saifo and the technical team, Premier al-Halqi was briefed on the development projects, including early childhood programs, primary education, nursing, hospitals, healthcare, rural and agriculture development, small and medium-sized loan funds, in addition to cultural projects being carried out.

The two sides discussed new projects and under construction projects, including Salamyeh Hospital and the project of Education Academy, water rationalization project and other food projects that contribute to boosting food security in the country.

Premier al-Halqi called for coordinating efforts between the ministries and the Network in order to accelerate the achievement of the projects.

For his part, the Resident Representative hailed the support offered by the Syrian Government to the Network which facilitate the implementation of the projects in the framework of boosting the economic, social and cultural development process in Syria.

https://www.facebook.com/TheSyrianArabN ... 9748198225
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July 2013 correspondence about A.K. Academy on Wikileaks

Post by Admin »

Message from the Secretariat of HH the Aga Khan
Released on 2012-09-11 13:00 GMT
Email-ID 2095205
Date 2008-07-16 07:23:38
From shafik.sachedina@aiglemont.org
To mohamed.seifo@akdn.org , mansour.azzam@mopa.gov.sy , amyn.kassim-lakha@aiglemont.org , amyn.ahamed@aiglemont.org



*****************************

Dear Mr. Azzam,
I thank Your Excellency most warmly for your assistance in organising the meeting that His Highness the Aga Khan had on Monday July 14th with His Excellency President Bashar Al-Assad and Mrs. Al-Assad during their visit to Paris.

I understand that the discussions were most fruitful and that His Excellency the President asked to be informed of the dates on which His Highness is planning his forthcoming visit to Syria.

During His Highness’s visit, a ceremony will take place to mark the foundation stone laying for the planned Aga Khan Academy in Damascus, and it is also my understanding that His Excellency the President and Mrs. Al-Assad agreed to give consideration to their possible participation in this event.

The dates that are planned for His Highness’s visit to Syria are from the 24th to 29th of August. I would be most grateful for your collaboration in seeking to organise a courtesy meeting between His Highness and His Excellency the President and Mrs. Al- Assad, as well as for other aspects of this visit.

Two representatives of our Department of Diplomatic Affairs, Mr. Amyn Kassim-Lakha and Mr. Amyn Ahamed, travelled to Syria yesterday in order to begin planning for His Highness’s visit.

They will be working closely with the Aga Khan Development Network Representative for Syria, Mr. Mohammed Seifo, who will be co-ordinating the visit with the Government of Syria. I am copying this message also to Mr. Seifo.

Thank you again for your collaboration, and I look forward to working with you during His Highness’s forthcoming visit to Syria.

With kind regards,
Shafik Sachedina
Director of Diplomatic Affairs
Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan
Last edited by Admin on Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Salamiyya and Syria: “Peace Will be Again”

http://simerg.com/2013/01/30/salamiyya- ... -be-again/
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Syria and AKDN sign MoU for executing water project in al-Salamiah

Damascus, Ministry of Water Resources and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to execute a project for drawing drinking water from local sources to al-Salamiah city in Hama.

The project is worth USD 1.5 million.

Minister of Water Resources Kamal al-Shaikha underlined the importance of cooperation between the ministry and AKDN, expressing the ministry’s readiness to offer all facilitations to execute joint projects in water sector.

For his part, AKDN Resident Representative in Syria Mohamed Saifo said the network is committed to implementing the project on schedule and according to the approved technical specifications.

The project includes digging three wells, supplying them with equipment and linking them to the desalination and treatment stations.

Minister al-Shaikha also toured Qatana Water Station in Damascus Countryside.

http://www.syriaonline.sy/?f=Details&pa ... 5&catid=30
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Success in Salamiyah, Syria: making sulphurous water drinkable | Oxfam GB

In the run up to World Humanitarian Day Leen Saeb, Oxfam Public Health Engineer, shares a recent success from our Syria emergency response programme. In Salamiyah City, Oxfam has worked with local engineers to perform the impressive feat of setting up a reverse osmosis plant to treat sulphurous water, permanently.

Salamiyah city in Hama Governorate, Syria, has been suffering from severe water shortages as a result of the prolonged crisis and increased pressure on resources. This has posed big challenges as the water quality in Salamiyah is poor due to the level of sulphur, and the number of drinking wells was insufficient for demand. Prior to Oxfam’s intervention piped water was only available once every ten days, and even then for only a few hours.

https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2015/ ... ilimail%29
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VIDEO: AKDN seeks to sustain hope in Syria says Mawlana Hazar Imam
http://www.theismaili.org/news-events/v ... hazar-imam

TheIsmaili.org

4 February 2016

London, 4 February 2016 — Deploring the devastation in war-ravaged Syria, Mawlana Hazar Imam called for the establishment of “islands of stability” to provide areas of relative safety in the midst of conflict.

Also see:
» Mawlana Hazar Imam’s statement
» AKDN press release

“I am deeply distressed over the indiscriminate and widespread devastation of life and property, including that of irreplaceable cultural assets which are the manifestation of Syria’s stunningly rich pluralistic history,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam in his remarks to the Supporting Syria and the Region conference, co-hosted by the United Kingdom, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, and the United Nations today in London.

The Aga Khan Development Network, he continued, “is fully engaged with the peace process under UN leadership, and is firmly committed to helping build a Syria that continues to respect pluralism, remains secular, and embarks on a political process led by Syrians.”

Since 2011, AKDN has already dedicated $50 million to projects in the country. At the conference, Mawlana Hazar Imam pledged to expand activities in Syria, contributing $200 million over the next four years.

AKDN had been active in Syria for many years before the war began. Since the war, the Ismaili Imamat has been assisting efforts to assist internally displaced people, “supporting local community leaders, teachers, doctors, engineers and others to foster stability, protecting their families and their communities” and “investing in communities by supporting agriculture, income generation, early childhood education, schools, and hospitals,” explained Hazar Imam.

“Our goal is to sustain hope,” he said.

Mawlana Hazar Imam addressing the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in London on 4 February 2016.

Mawlana Hazar Imam addressing the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in London on 4 February 2016.

AKDN
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Mowlana Hazar Imam speech wrote:“I am deeply distressed over the indiscriminate and widespread devastation of life and property, including that of irreplaceable cultural assets which are the manifestation of Syria’s stunningly rich pluralistic history,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam in his remarks to the Supporting Syria and the Region conference, co-hosted by the United Kingdom, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, and the United Nations today in London.
The article below explains what the loss of cultural assets mean.

Life Among the Ruins

Extract:

When lamenting the masonry and sculpture destroyed by the Islamic State, we can easily overlook this shifting human story. We too readily consign antiquities to the remote province of the past. But they can remain meaningful in surprising and ordinary ways. “This is the meaning of heritage,” Ms. Kuntar said. “It’s not only architecture or artifacts that represent history, it’s these memories and the ancestral connection to place.”

Bulldozed by the Islamic State in 2015, the 1,500-year-old monastery of St. Elian, near Al Qaryatain, Syria, was a symbol of these connections. It was a modest and unadorned structure that had none of the glamour of the Temple of Baal; a 3D reconstruction of the rather plain sarcophagus that held the remains of its eponymous saint won’t be coming to a major Western city any time soon. But its importance lay in its role as a bridge between communities.

Al Qaryatain is a small town in the desert between Palmyra and Damascus. For centuries, Christian and Muslim pilgrims alike came to the monastery to seek the blessings of the saint. Muslims venerated St. Elian as a Sufi sheikh, known to them as Sheikh Ahmed the Priest. His tomb was draped in the green satin common to Sufi holy sites.

Until the turbulence of the civil war, the monastery hosted the festival of Eid Mar Elian every Sept. 9. Five to six thousand devotees — Muslim and Christian — would converge on the monastery, where under a large tent erected in the central cloister they would swap tales about St. Elian/Sheikh Ahmed, share plates of lamb and rice, and dance the dabka.

In attacking the monastery, the Islamic State was not simply leveling a holy place. The militants struck at a site that had knit Muslim and Christian communities together for centuries. Local legend has it that centuries ago, the townspeople decided that no matter whether Islam or Christianity gathered more believers, the group in the majority would always protect the one in the minority. Generations of pilgrims left affectionate graffiti on the sarcophagus of Mar Elian, including a Star of David suggesting that at least one Jew visited the saint.

More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/opini ... ef=opinion
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A Jewel in Syria Where ‘Ruins Have Been Ruined’ by ISIS

Excerpt:

Despite the Islamic State’s efforts, many of the ancient sites in Palmyra were undamaged. The destruction in the modern parts of Tadmur was far worse. Shops, cafes and houses in the city appeared to have been abandoned, empty of any signs of the once-vibrant city life in Syria.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/world ... 87722&_r=0
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UNHCR selects AKMI roster artists Basel Rajoub and Soriana Project to perform for UN World Refugee Day commemoration

Geneva, Switzerland, 20 June 2016 - Syrian saxophonist and composer Basel Rajoub and his Soriana Project are the featured performers for the 2016 commemoration of World Refugee Day at the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva today. First marked in 2001, World Refugee Day is observed each year on 20 June to commemorate the “strength, courage, and perseverance of millions of refugees,” according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Rajoub and Soriana are part of the artist roster of the Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI), which supports musicians and music educators from 11 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East who are working to preserve, revitalise and transmit their musical heritage to new generations of artists and audiences.

Soriana translated as “Our Syria” is a project which brings together eminent performer-composer-improvisers from Syria and the West who create contemporary music inspired by the rich cultural heritage of the Middle East. Rajoub, himself living away from his homeland, Syria, notes that he has been sustained by the knowledge of his own cultural heritage that he has carried with him. “This gift of musical knowledge has remained with me throughout many journeys, during which it has soothed wounds, inspired creativity, and provided a platform of stability,” said Rajoub.

Rajoub, born in Aleppo, Syria, and currently a resident of Switzerland, will by joined for the World Refugee Day performance by fellow Soriana Project musicians Feras Charestan, from Al-Hasakeh, in northeast Syria, who presently lives in Stockholm, and is a virtuoso performer on the qanun, a plucked zither with ancient roots in the Middle East; vocalist Lynn Adib, born in Damascus and currently a resident of Paris; and Italian percussionist Andrea Piccioni, a leading performer on frame drums from a variety of world music traditions. In May 2016, Basel Rajoub and Soriana Project released their first joint recording, “The Queen of Turquoise,” on the Jazz Village label of Harmonia Mundi, an international record company known for both its classical music and jazz catalogues.

Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI) supports sustaining musicianship and music making —both amateur and professional — for and within displaced communities. Though support for music and other forms of cultural expression is often viewed as a low priority in humanitarian assistance programmes for refugees, AKMI believes that art and music offer a unique resource and can sustain hope and provide an intangible, yet indestructible link to cultural memory, which, eventually becomes the catalyst of cultural revitalisation.

For more information on Basel Rajoub and Soriana Project, and on the Aga Khan Music Initiative, please follow the links:

http://sorianaproject.com (Soriana Project)
http://www.akdn.org/akmi (Aga Khan Music Initiative)
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Health Ministry, AKDN sign MoU to develop diagnostic and therapeutic capacity

Damascus, SANA-Health Ministry and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) signed on Thursday a MoU stipulating the establishment of health projects and programs in the fields of developing the diagnostic and therapeutic capacity of the health establishments and health care systems and promote health in society by supporting social initiatives.

According to the MoU, the AKDN will contribute to building the capabilities of the health workers, developing the health polices of the Health Ministry, improving the infrastructure of the health establishments and cooperating to offer medical equipment and medicines, particularly the ones that are used by the ministry for the treatment of communicable and chronic diseases.

In press statement following the signing ceremony, Health Minister Nizar Yazigi said that the MoU is as an extra incentive to develop a mechanism of joint work between the ministry and AKDN, hailing the efforts of the AKDN in supporting the work of the health sector’s establishments.

For his part, AKDN Resident Representative in Syria Mohamed Saifo said that this is the third MoU between the AKDN and the Health Ministry, stressing on the AKDN’s keenness to cooperate with the Health Ministry to provide better health services for citizens.

Manar al-Frieh/Manal

http://sana.sy/en/?p=85998
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Tourism Ministry, AKDN discuss cooperation

Damascus, SANA – Tourism Minister Bishr Yazigi discussed on Sunday with resident representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) Mohamed Saifo and AKDN legal director Ali Ismail means for developing cooperation between the two sides, particulary in the fields of training and tourism projects.

The two sides also discussed joint activities, with Yazigi lauding the AKDN’s efforts particularly the “Syria: A Living History” exhibition held at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto which opened on October 15 and will remain open until February 26, 2017.

On a related note, Yazigi discussed with Chairman of the Board of Directors of Australian holdings company Team Five Mohammad Hammoud prospects of investment in the tourism sector in Syria.

Hammoud voiced his company’s desire to launch investment projects in Syria, noting that the Syrian government is providing facilitations for investments.

Hazem Sabbagh
http://sana.sy/en/?p=92053
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Syria's Civil War: Aleppo's heritage sites 'in danger'

UNESCO representatives are expected in Damascus next week to discuss ways of salvaging Aleppo's heritage.

Extract:

The Aga Khan Foundation, which was involved in the restoration of Aleppo's citadel in 2008, is participating in emergency discussions in Damascus and representatives of UNESCO are due to visit Syria next week to agree on emergency measures, Adbulkarim said. He added that a major restoration project cannot begin until the conflict in Syria ends.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 54224.html
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Post by kmaherali »

In the rubble, Aleppo's citizens work to save battered heritage

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-midea ... SKBN15S1T4

Extract:

The Aga Khan Development Network's cultural arm, which was behind a multi-million dollar restoration and urban development project around the Citadel and nearby souks a decade ago, said it was also looking at possible rehabilitation of the area.

Aleppo is one of the Middle East's great historic centers, its ancient Citadel and medieval mosques and souks among the region's finest buildings and a source of national pride - and tourist revenue - for Syria.
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The Reconstruction of the Mosque of Aleppo - Aga Khan

Post by Admin »

Corriere della Sera 13 Sept. 2017

]The Aga Khan and the Italian project
to rebuild the Aleppo mosque
A ten-million-euro plan. Two Italian universities will be involved. "Hope for all Syria"
by Francesco Battistini


For Google Translation see below the original Italian text.

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/17_settem ... resh_ce-cp

L’Aga Khan e il progetto italiano
per ricostruire la moschea di Aleppo
Un piano da dieci milioni di euro. Saranno coinvolte due università italiane. «Speranza per tutta la Siria»
di Francesco Battistini



Dov’era, com’era. Fra le mani un modellino in plastica bianca del minareto di Aleppo, il dottor Radwan Khawatmi lo rigira con la nostalgia dei giochi d’infanzia: «Io sono nato a pochi metri da lì. Ero bambino e sentivo sempre il muezzin. Andavo a scuola e mi fermavo a bere l’acqua della moschea. Certi pomeriggi caldi, mi riposavo all’ombra di quel muro». I ricordi di Radwan sono morti il 24 aprile 2013: «Quando hanno distrutto il minareto e quasi tutta la moschea, mi sono sentito distrutto anch’io: ormai vivo in Italia da quasi 50 anni, ma se vado in Siria mi chiamano ancora l’italiano che parla con l’accento d’Aleppo. Quel giorno ho chiamato Sua Altezza e ho detto: dobbiamo fare qualcosa...». Detto e fatto. Sua Altezza Shah Karim al-Husaini, l’Aga Khan IV, discendente del Profeta e capo spirituale di 27 milioni di sciiti ismailiti sparsi nel mondo, inventore della Costa Smeralda e filantropo che ha portato le scuole nelle sperdute valli afgane, sarà lui a ricostruire Aleppo. A cominciare dalla torre tirata su dopo l’anno Mille, e abbattuta in pochi minuti, per poi passare all’antica moschea degli Omayyadi, al bazar, alla Cittadella. «La precedenza l’avrà il minareto. Perché è simbolico, in una città di 4 milioni d’abitanti. È la cupola di San Pietro per Roma. È il campanile di San Marco a Venezia: da rifare dov’era, com’era».

Se il tuo vicino ti odia, dice un proverbio arabo, sposta la porta della tua casa. Nell’Aleppo delle mille fedi, porta d’Oriente inferiore solo a Istanbul e al Cairo, tappa carovaniera di musulmani e cristiani ed ebrei, «la Parigi del Medio Oriente» dove Agatha Christie scrisse «Assassinio sull’Orient Express», una delle più antiche città del mondo arricchita da ittiti e assiri, babilonesi e persiani, romani e abbasidi, bizantini e mamelucchi, ottomani e francesi, in questi anni di guerra la Grande Moschea patrimonio dell’Unesco s’è trovata a 200 metri dalla prima linea e l’odio fra i vicini ne ha fatto la porta dell’inferno: distrutte le mura perimetrali, crollati i 49 metri del minareto, saccheggiate le macerie, sparita la millenaria cupola di legno del muezzin, polverizzati i mosaici e bruciati gl’intagli. «In gennaio — dice Khawatmi —, al nostro primo sopralluogo, mi ha pianto il cuore. I progettisti ci hanno detto che solo per il minareto ci vorranno quattro anni di lavoro: noi abbiamo insistito per farlo in due, costi quel che costi». Una decina di milioni. E non sarà come disegnare il modellino di plastica bianca: l’Aga Khan Trust for Culture (Aktc) ha finanziato grandi restauri dal Libano all’India, «ma in questo scenario è tutto più difficile: tre missioni segrete sotto le bombe, nove persone e la paura d’essere sequestrati, abbiamo messo d’accordo governo siriano e opposizioni, autorità religiose e civili. La nostra forza è non schierarci per nessuno».

Si vorrebbe partire a fine anno. L’Aga Khan ha inviato in Siria il suo direttore generale, Luis Monreal, a garantire che «noi operiamo ovunque per conservare l’eredità culturale e stimolare lo sviluppo economico. Vogliamo solo che la vita torni a pulsare ad Aleppo». Metà delle pietre originali è stata recuperata, poi si ricorrerà alla cava che servì a un restauro di tre secoli fa. Inventario dei danni, rilievi coi droni, fotogrammetrie 3D, disegni in scala e mappature. Gli ebanisti sono stati ingaggiati in India e Pakistan, tre ingegneri (uno italiano) al lavoro con trenta colleghi siriani per organizzare il cantiere. C’è l’ok d’Irene Bokova, direttore generale Unesco, si cerca l’appoggio del ministro Franceschini. Perché a un certo punto si sono fatti avanti gl’inglesi, i francesi, i ceceni e soprattutto gli arabi del Golfo. «Ma io sono un italiano e un musulmano laico», dice Khawatmi, che anni fa salvò dal crac la Dante Alighieri e oggi è nel consiglio dell’Aga Khan Museum di Toronto, straordinaria collezione d’arte islamica: «Ho convinto Sua Altezza di quanto sia importante l’italianità di questo restauro», saranno coinvolti Politecnico di Milano e Università delle Marche. «Abbiamo presentato i rilievi a un convegno a Vienna — dice il professor Gabriele Fangi —, siamo i migliori al mondo in queste cose. Speriamo di riuscire a partire nei tempi previsti. Le difficoltà maggiori? Trovare la manodopera locale, perché i siriani sono in gran parte a combattere o all’estero». Radwan, il siriano d’Italia, ha moglie di Parma e un tricolore dietro la scrivania, è stato premiato miglior imprenditore straniero nel nostro Paese, crede così tanto nel dialogo da aver cercato di coinvolgere nelle sue iniziative perfino la Lega: «Mi danno sempre del sognatore. Anche stavolta. Invece nei sogni bisogna credere. L’Aga Khan vuole dare il messaggio che è iniziata la ricostruzione d’un Paese. È il nome che abbiamo dato a questo progetto: la speranza della Siria».
13 settembre 2017 (modifica il 13 settembre 2017 | 21:23)
© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA

-------------------
Google Translation:

The Aga Khan and the Italian project
to rebuild the Aleppo mosque
A ten-million-euro plan. Two Italian universities will be involved. "Hope for all Syria"
by Francesco Battistini [/ b]


Where was he, how was he. In his hands, a white plastic model of the Aleppo Minaret, Dr. Radwan Khawatmi reminds him with the nostalgia of childhood games: "I was born a few meters from there. I was a child and always felt muezzin. I went to school and stopped drinking the mosque water. Some warm afternoons, I rested in the shadow of that wall. " Radwan's memories died on April 24, 2013: "When they destroyed the minaret and most of the mosque, I felt destroyed, too. I've been living in Italy for nearly 50 years now, but if I go to Syria, Italian speaking with the accent of Aleppo. That day I called His Highness and I said, we have to do something ... " That said and done. His Highness Shah Karim al-Husaini, Aga Khan IV, descendant of the Prophet and spiritual leader of 27 million Ismaili Shiites around the world, an inventor of the Emerald Coast and a philanthropist who has led schools into the deserted valleys of Afghanistan, will reconstruct Aleppo. Beginning with the tower pulled up after the thousandth year, and fell in a few minutes, then go to the ancient mosque of the Omayyadi, at the bazaar, at the Citadel. "Priority will have the minaret. Because it is symbolic, in a city of 4 million inhabitants. It is the dome of St. Peter for Rome. It is the bell tower of San Marco in Venice: to redo where it was, how it was. "

If your neighbor hates you, says an Arab proverb, move the door to your home. In the alley of the thousands of faiths, the lower East Gate is only in Istanbul and Cairo, a caravan of Muslims and Christians and Jews, "Middle East Paris" where Agatha Christie wrote "Assassination on the Oriente Express", one of the most ancient cities of the world enriched by Hittites and Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians, Roman and Abbasidos, Byzantines and Mamlelots, Ottomans and French, In these years of war the UNESCO Great Mosque has been found 200 meters from the first line and hate among the neighbors made the door of hell: it destroyed the perimeter walls, collapsed the 49 meters of the minaret, plundered the rubble, disappeared the millennial dome of muezzin, splashed the mosaics and burnt it. "In January," says Khawatmi, "at our first inspection I was crying. The designers have told us that only for the minaret will take four years of work: we have insisted on doing so in two, cost whatsoever. " About ten million. And it will not be like drawing a white plastic model: Aga Khan Trust for Culture (Aktc) has funded major renovations from Lebanon to India, "but in this scenario it's all the more difficult: three secret missions under bombs, nine people and the fear of being seized, we have agreed Syrian government and opposition, religious and civil authorities. Our strength is not to deploy for anyone. "

You would like to start at the end of the year. Aga Khan has sent to Syria its chief executive, Luis Monreal, to ensure that "we operate everywhere to preserve the cultural heritage and stimulate economic development. We just want life to go back to Aleppo. " Half of the original stones have been recovered, then they will use the quarry that served a restoration three centuries ago. Damage Inventory, dive surveys, 3D photogrammetries, scale drawings and mappings. The hobbyists were hired in India and Pakistan, three engineers (one Italian) working with thirty Syrian colleagues to organize the yard. There is the ok of Irene Bokova, General Director of Unesco, seeking support from Minister Franceschini. Because at some point the English, the French, the Chechens, and especially the Arabs of the Gulf were made. "But I am an Italian and a lay Muslim," says Khawatmi, who saved the Dante Alighieri from the crac of years ago and today is in the council of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, an extraordinary Islamic art collection: "I have convinced His Highness how important is the Italianity of this restoration ", will be involved in the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Marche. "We have presented the findings at a conference in Vienna," says Professor Gabriele Fangi, "we are the best in the world in these things. We hope to be able to get started within the timescale. The biggest difficulties? Find local labor, because the Syrians are mostly fighting either abroad or abroad. " Radwan, the Syrian of Italy, has Parma's wife and a tricolor behind the desk, has been awarded the best foreign entrepreneur in our country, he believes so much in the dialogue that he has tried to involve in his initiatives even the League: "I always give the dreamer. Even this time. Instead, in dreams you have to believe. The Aga Khan wants to give the message that a country's reconstruction has begun. This is the name we gave to this project

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Post by kmaherali »

Reconstructing Aleppo
The hidden power of investors


Excerpt:

Fansa: We are in contact with other organisations active in Syria and are attempting to pursue our goals together. At present, we are co-operating with the Aga Khan Foundation, which has never abandoned its ties to Syria and which has also invested time and money in the old city of Aleppo. But even here, we are talking about only around ten per cent of what should be restored. This is why I am pleading for the assistance of German civil organisations and association, should Germany chose not to officially engage in the reconstruction of Aleppo through the GIZ or other organisations. At present, reconstruction efforts lack necessary funding. And it is exactly at this moment that investors from various countries have appeared and they have absolutely no understanding of monument preservation.

https://en.qantara.de/content/reconstru ... -investors
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Post by kmaherali »

Aleppo souq and Umayyad mosque reconstruction begins
Funded by Aga Khan Foundation, presentation in Palermo 2/3

PALERMO - While the war continues in Syria, with regime bombing on besieged Eastern Ghouta and clashes between the Turkish army and the Kurdish YPG in the north, reconstruction has begun in Aleppo. A group of Italian engineers and experts have been transferred to the Syrian city to work with locals and teach them the necessary skills to restore the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the souq, minaret and Umayyad mosque.

The project is funded by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, part of the Aga Khan network created to revitalize developing countries and working mainly in Africa and Asia. On March 2, the project will be presented to the world by Radwan Khawatmi, a member of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture board, in Palermo.

By his side will be mayor Leoluca Orlando and culture councillor Andrea Cusumano. The preview will help valorize the project for Palermo Capital of Culture 2018.

The method for the project implementation will be detailed during the presentation, models will be show and a documentary video will be screened with footage filmed by a drone over the ruins of the city. The restoration has begun and an attempt is being made to use the original materials as much as possible, putting the stones salvaged back where they were before the war. (ANSAmed).

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news ... ?idPhoto=1
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Post by kmaherali »

Aleppo's reconstruction 'deserves international resources'

Aga Khan Trust for Culture calls for condemnation of destruction to be reinforced by help on the ground


Experts from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) are calling on the international heritage community to support the reconstruction of the Old City of Aleppo as an “urgent humanitarian need”. Seven years into Syria’s civil war and with wide-ranging sanctions against Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, the Geneva-based organisation is leading pilot conservation projects in the 364-hectare Unesco World Heritage Site, which was a battleground from 2012 to 2016. The trust is also working on a five-year masterplan, an advisory document for the Syrian authorities, which champions conserving cultural heritage as a catalyst for Aleppo’s social and economic recovery.

More...

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/gl ... ild-aleppo
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Post by Admin »

https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/mbyx ... ed-by-isis

How Syrians Are Rebuilding the Monuments Destroyed By ISIS

A French restoration company is working with locals to restore their most important cultural artefacts.

This article originally appeared on VICE France.

In the summer of 2015, a satellite flew above the Syrian city of Palmyra, where ISIS was wreaking terror. A few hours later, in their Geneva offices, experts from the United Nations agency UNITAR (Institute for Training and Research) inspected the images captured by the satellite. They zoomed in on the south of the ancient city, a former commercial crossroads between the east and the west, where the central building of the Temple of Bel – a former World Heritage Site – should have been. The experts could only make out rubble, and the building's door, somehow still standing.

Two years later, in July of 2017, Aurélien Peyroux – a geometric engineer employed by the small French architecture company Art Graphique & Patrimoine (AGP) – was standing by the door of this temple, the biggest in Palmyra, after it had been freed from ISIS control. Its gilded limestone frame leaned precariously, threatening to collapse among the ruins. Flanked by a group of Syrian soldiers for security, and armed with a laser scanner, Peyroux watched where he stepped; it's not uncommon for ISIS to line their old strongholds with landmines.

Amid the sound of far-off explosions punctuated by gunfire, Peyroux inspected the door from all angles to figure out how to save it from certain collapse.

The Temple of Bel is just one in a long list of Syrian monuments – such as the Souk of Aleppo and the Krak des Chevaliers – that have been hit hard by the civil war. Ever since ISIS lost control of much of its territory, a handful of French people – stonecutters, engineers and specialty architects – have been traveling the country, working with Syrians to help salvage these damaged historical artefacts.


"Our job is like doing an MRI, but on a building," says AGP boss Gaël Hamon, who began his career as a stonecutter. "Thanks to the data, we can see that the Temple of Bel's door is leaning and no longer very stable, for a number of reasons," Peyroux tells me, adding that this data – without which, it would be impossible to know how to stabilise and strengthen the monuments – is then passed along to Syrian architects.

While AGP and its employees are used to operating in tough environments – Afghanistan, Somaliland, Madagascar – working in a still-active war zone comes with its own set of surprises.

"When we were surveying the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, my colleague noticed there was a undetonated explosive still encased in a wall," Peyroux recalls. "It's a whole different ball game from a work site in France – you have to be careful when you're scanning for super-precise images in a war zone. For example, if we were to accidentally scan a Russian tank passing by, that might cause some problems."

François Braud is currently training Syrians in stone-cutting. Since he first arrived in the country two years ago, he has had to adapt to some peculiar work conditions. "On my first trip to Aleppo in 2017, the bombings were happening on a regular basis," he explains. "Things were blowing up a few hundred meters from me, as armed guys were running after each other in the Ancient City. But Syrians have experienced much worse. It's inspiring to see how they try to carry on with their lives."

The Souk of Aleppo, a jumble of covered markets in the Ancient City, had welcomed merchants and traders since the 14th century, until the war destroyed many of its stalls. AGP was called to the scene in 2017 to scan part of it. Afterwards, Braud started his training sessions so as many locals as possible could have the tools needed to revive the souks while still respecting its architectural heritage.

"The Ancient City isn't an empty historical site," says Ali Esmaiel, the Syria representative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which has sent AGP and Braud on various restoration missions. "The souk plays a key role in Aleppo's economic activity. Reviving it is part of a bigger plan to restore the Ancient City, with the people of Aleppo at its heart."

Rehabilitating historic monuments like the souk isn't just a matter of reconstructing the past; it's also a matter of preparing for the future – as long as it keeps to the region's traditions.

"You might compare the current situation in Aleppo to the one in Beirut after the war," Braud adds. "In Beirut, the restoration caused more damage than the conflict itself – even to historic buildings. Now we're kind of seeing the same thing in Aleppo."

In fact, the Syrian government is threatening to confiscate the goods of shop owners who haven't returned to the city. The government has also been paying people to repaint the walls, but the quality of the work often isn't great. Braud explains that AGP won't intervene to stop work that's being done, regardless of the damage, but they take photos for their records and offer to come back later to advise.

The goal, they say, is in no way to stop Syrians from taking the lead in restoring their own artefacts – rather, it's to give them the best possible tools to decide for themselves how to go about it. "This country will be rebuilt for those who live in it," says a French architect who asked to remain anonymous, but has lived in Syria since the 1980s and is a consultant for the Aga Khan Trust. It's with this architect that Braud is pursuing his initiative to train as many locals as possible in stone-cutting – a project of particular importance in Aleppo, a city constructed of 80 percent cut stone and located directly atop a limestone base.

Aside from the souks, Braud and the architect are also implementing measures to restore Aleppo's citadel, where work is already underway, led by some of the Syrian architects working with Braud.

However, there still remains a lack of coordination between the various people involved. Unsurprisingly, restoring Syria's cultural history has become a political issue. "It's still a war zone with multiple stakeholders, each trying to turn things to their own advantage," says Braud. "Politically, it's complicated, and since a solution hasn't been found in Syria, it's going to stay complicated."

This stance is shared by the Aga Khan Trust, which views the restoration as not merely an individual or national challenge, but also an international necessity, since a number of the monuments concerned are classified as World Heritage Sites.

"These monuments have seen plenty of political regimes come and go," Gaël Hamon tells me. "For us, it’s the monuments and the culture they carry that's important. These monuments need us – and whatever happens, we'll keep working for them."
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Post by kmaherali »

Syria’s ancient Aleppo souk poised to regain its bustle

Restoration work began in November and is expected to be completed by July


Excerpt:

Restoration works began on November 1 after Syrian authorities signed a partnership agreement with the Aga Khan Foundation in Syria.

Renovations are expected to be completed in July, according to Al Daher.

Workers are focusing on erasing all “signs of war” from the market and correct old construction violations.

“The broader aim is to bring merchants back to their shops,” he says.

Saqatiya market is one of around 37 souks surrounding the Aleppo citadel, the oldest of their kind in the world.

Photos and more...

https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/syrias- ... 1.62586381
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