Schools in Syria Reopened

By the order of the new Syrian regime, schools in the country have reopened, and students returned to classes on Sunday, December 16. This development, which occurred about a week after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, is seen as a sign of a relative return to normalcy. During the 13-year civil war in Syria, hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced, cities were bombed, and international sanctions pressured the Syrian economy. A week after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime and the beginning of Syria's reconstruction process, neighboring countries and other Western powers are examining the new conditions to determine their positions regarding this Arab country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that senior diplomats from the U.S., Turkey, the European Union, and Arab countries agreed at a recent meeting in Jordan on the necessity of forming an inclusive and non-sectarian government in Syria and the requirement for the new regime to respect minority rights. Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad by Sunni Islamists, tens of thousands of Syrians, primarily Shia, have fled to Lebanon out of fear of persecution. The Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia, the main supporters of Bashar al-Assad during the 13-year civil war, were not invited to the Jordan meeting. Axios: Israel and Jordan held a secret meeting regarding the situation in Syria. The meeting of the U.S., the European Union, Turkey, and Arab countries regarding Syria took place in Jordan. Blinken emphasized the formation of an 'inclusive' and 'non-sectarian' government in Syria. The flight of Shia and other Syrian minorities to Lebanon due to fear of the Islamist regime.