What does it mean to lose a home—and to remake one? For millions of Syrians, home is no longer a given but something they must fight for, redefine, and rebuild. What is 'home' for you?
I've met several Syrians, including in the past few months. Many of them have been exiled from their homeland for over a decade. The sheer emotion they were all obviously feeling at the collapse of Assad's regime was undeniable and palpable - hope, joy, fear, anticipation, trepidation. Many could not talk about going 'home' without welling up, even after years of building new lives in the West and Turkey.
I really hope that this time truly is a new dawn for Syria. My God, the Syrian people deserve it.
Thanks a lot for this thoughtprovoking (and most of all emotional, warm and wise) post!
For my birthday I will get for myself for sure this one you just recommended (you dig up such great stuff - the recommendations of Eugene Rogan's books you had made a few months ago are already all on my wishlist) and of course your latest book on Turkish political affairs (your previous book also sounds very interesting - but I can't do it all at once, otherwise I needed more time, money and brain capacity than I "command" right now 🤓. I will get to it!)
Btw: I also wanted to thank you for the great and informative tip of listening to the interview on the The Rest is Politics- podcast (that was indeed a historic moment in time!)
Keep up the great work and thanks again for letting us substackers in on what you are up to 😊👍
Thank you for this.
I've met several Syrians, including in the past few months. Many of them have been exiled from their homeland for over a decade. The sheer emotion they were all obviously feeling at the collapse of Assad's regime was undeniable and palpable - hope, joy, fear, anticipation, trepidation. Many could not talk about going 'home' without welling up, even after years of building new lives in the West and Turkey.
I really hope that this time truly is a new dawn for Syria. My God, the Syrian people deserve it.
Thanks for sharing this. I feel the same way.
Thanks a lot for this thoughtprovoking (and most of all emotional, warm and wise) post!
For my birthday I will get for myself for sure this one you just recommended (you dig up such great stuff - the recommendations of Eugene Rogan's books you had made a few months ago are already all on my wishlist) and of course your latest book on Turkish political affairs (your previous book also sounds very interesting - but I can't do it all at once, otherwise I needed more time, money and brain capacity than I "command" right now 🤓. I will get to it!)
Btw: I also wanted to thank you for the great and informative tip of listening to the interview on the The Rest is Politics- podcast (that was indeed a historic moment in time!)
Keep up the great work and thanks again for letting us substackers in on what you are up to 😊👍
Thanks a lot for your sweet comment as always. I am really happy to hear these.