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Turkey Sets Up New Military Base in Northern Raqqa

Turkish army and Syrian factions attacked Raqqa on Thursday (File photo. SOHR)
Turkish army and Syrian factions attacked Raqqa on Thursday (File photo. SOHR)
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Turkey Sets Up New Military Base in Northern Raqqa

Turkish army and Syrian factions attacked Raqqa on Thursday (File photo. SOHR)
Turkish army and Syrian factions attacked Raqqa on Thursday (File photo. SOHR)

Military sources from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) confirmed Thursday that the Turkish army and Syrian factions had set up a military base in the village of Sayda, north of Ain Issa.

The Kurdish news agency, Hawar, published recorded videos showing the expansion of the military site, hundreds of meters from the M4 international highway.

According to residents, the Turkish forces have reinforced their military positions along the conflict lines in the vicinity of Ain Issa in Raqqa and Tal Tamar, Zarkan and Abu Rassin in their military operational areas, northeast of Syria.

They also said that the Turkish forces equipped those positions with radars and tracking devices, in addition to the presence of hundreds of soldiers, vehicles and heavy weapons.

This comes amid escalation of attacks by Turkish forces and their proxies on Ain Issa town and countryside.

On Thursday, hundreds of residents in Ain Issa gathered in front of the Russian forces base in the vicinity of al-Sawameh area, denouncing the attacks launched by Turkish forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the injury of three civilians in rocket attacks by Turkish forces and their proxy factions in the area.

The residents urged the Russian forces not to remain silent over Turkish violations against them.

SOHR activists also reported rocket attacks by Turkish forces on Thursday afternoon, targeting the SDF-controlled village of Sayda in the northern countryside of Ain Issa in northern Raqqa.

Also, several Turkish rockets pounded the entrances of Ain Issa district, but no casualties have been reported.

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Syria Forms Committee to Draft Transitional Constitutional Declaration

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa talks to attendees during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa talks to attendees during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria Forms Committee to Draft Transitional Constitutional Declaration

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa talks to attendees during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa talks to attendees during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced on Sunday the formation of a committee to draft a constitutional declaration for the country's transition after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The new authorities are focused on rebuilding Syria and its institutions after Assad's removal on December 8, ending more than half a century of his family's iron-fisted rule and 13 years of devastating war.

The presidency announced "the formation of a committee of experts", including one woman, tasked with drafting "the constitutional declaration that regulates the transitional phase" in Syria.

The seven-member committee would "submit its proposals to the president", it said in a statement, without specifying a timeframe.

In late January, Sharaa, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which spearheaded Assad's overthrow, was appointed interim president for an unspecified period.

Syria's new authorities have repealed the Assad-era constitution, and Sharaa has said rewriting it could take up to three years.

In late January, Sharaa promised a "constitutional declaration" to serve as a "legal reference" during the country's transitional period.

Sunday's announcement came "based on the Syrian people's aspirations in building their state based on the rule of law, and building on the outcomes of the Syrian national dialogue conference", said the presidency.

It also came "with the aim of preparing the legal framework regulating the transitional phase", it added.

A national dialogue conference held this week in Damascus set out a path for the new Syria.

The committee includes Abdul Hamid al-Awak, who holds a doctorate in constitutional law and lectures at a university in Turkiye, and Yasser al-Huwaish, who was appointed this year as dean of Damascus university's law faculty.

It also includes Bahia Mardini, a journalist with a doctorate in law who has been living in Britain, and Ismail al-Khalfan, who holds a doctorate in law specializing in international law, and who this year was appointed law faculty dean at Aleppo university.

Another committee member, Mohammed Reda Jalkhi, holds a doctorate in law specializing in international law from Idlib university, where he graduated in 2023.

The final statement of this week's dialogue conference called for "a constitutional committee to prepare a draft permanent constitution for the country that achieves balance between authorities, sets the values of justice, freedom and equality, and establishes a state of law an institutions".

Syria's conflict broke out in 2011 after Assad brutally repressed anti-government protests.

It spiraled into a complex conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions more domestically and abroad and battered the economy, infrastructure and industry.

In December, a caretaker government was appointed to steer the country until March 1, when a new government was due to be formed.