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Moroccan King Cancels Annual Official Birthday Celebration Starting 2019

Moroccan King Cancels Annual Official Birthday Celebration Starting 2019
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Moroccan King Cancels Annual Official Birthday Celebration Starting 2019

Moroccan King Cancels Annual Official Birthday Celebration Starting 2019

The Ministry of the Royal Household has announced that King Mohammed VI will no longer celebrate his birthday with the official annual ceremony at the royal palace.

The celebration is traditionally held every August 21, which also marks the celebration of Youth Day, commemorating the youths’ contribution to Morocco’s liberation.

It also follows the celebration of the king and the people’s revolution on August 20, which commemorates the resistance of Moroccans to French colonialism and their uprising led by late King Mohammed V.

The decision comes a few months after the Ministry of the Royal Household called on institutions across Morocco to commemorate the Throne Day without undue extravagance on July 30, which marked this year two decades since King Mohammed VI’s reign.

Morocco first celebrated Youth Day in July 1956, four months after liberating the Kingdom. Crown Prince Moulay Hassan’s first birthday was chosen to mark this day.

“When Morocco first celebrated the Youth Day in the independence era in 1956, it was a great celebration that has become historic,” said Ahmad Bensouda, minister of youth in the Moroccan government of 1956.

“For the first time in Morocco’s freedom and independence, young people met from all over the Kingdom to celebrate their icon Prince Moulay Hassan’s birthday,” he added, noting that it marked a beginning to their determination and will to build their country and fight the greatest battle.

“I was then minister of youth, and the slogan chosen by late King Mohammed V for that day was (Youth Day).”

“The King gave the celebration of Morocco’s youth a symbol and content embodied in what the Crown Prince represented, including the ambition and will.”

He further noted that the celebration was a way to express creativity and the amount of production young people are capable of achieving.

When King Mohammed VI of Morocco took office in 1999, he maintained the tradition of celebrating Youth Day and changed its date from July 9 (King Hassan II’s birthday) to August 21, King Mohammed VI’s birthday.

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Ankara: Assad Does Not Want Peace in Syria

Fidan addresses the Planning and Budget Committee of the Turkish Parliament (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Fidan addresses the Planning and Budget Committee of the Turkish Parliament (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
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Ankara: Assad Does Not Want Peace in Syria

Fidan addresses the Planning and Budget Committee of the Turkish Parliament (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Fidan addresses the Planning and Budget Committee of the Turkish Parliament (Turkish Foreign Ministry)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has stated that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is unwilling to pursue peace in Syria and warned that Israel’s efforts to spread war across the Middle East are undermining the environment fostered by the Astana Process.

Fidan emphasized the importance of Russian and Iranian efforts within the framework of the Astana Process to maintain calm on the ground, pointing to ongoing consultations with the US regarding the Syrian crisis.

Speaking during a parliamentary session discussing the 2025 budget of the Foreign Ministry, Fidan reiterated Türkiye’s expectation that the dialogue proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be approached strategically by the Syrian government, with priority given to the interests of the Syrian people.

Regarding Erdogan’s invitation to Assad for a meeting to discuss the normalization of ties between Ankara and Damascus, Fidan remarked that the matter depends on political will, stressing that the Turkish president has demonstrated his readiness at the highest level.

Last week, Erdogan reiterated the possibility of a meeting with Assad, but Russia, which mediates the normalization talks between Ankara and Damascus, ruled out such a meeting or high-level engagements in the near future.

Russian Presidential Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev attributed the impasse to Türkiye’s refusal to meet Damascus’ demand for a withdrawal from northern Syria, accusing Ankara of acting as an “occupying state”.

Although Türkiye has not officially responded to Lavrentiev’s comments, which reflect a shift in Russia’s stance, Fidan stated in a televised interview last week that Russia remains “somewhat neutral” regarding the normalization process. He also urged the Syrian government to create conditions for the return of 10 million Syrian refugees.

Türkiye maintains that its military presence in northern Syria prevents the country’s division, blocks the establishment of a “terror corridor” along its southern border, and deters new waves of refugees from entering its territory.

Fidan outlined his country’s key objectives in Syria, which include eradicating terrorist groups (such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Syrian Democratic Forces), preserving Syria’s territorial unity, advancing the political process, and ensuring the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees.

Meanwhile, Turkish artillery targeted villages and positions controlled by the Manbij Military Council, affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose main component is the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

On Friday, fierce clashes erupted between the Syrian National Army factions and the SDF in western Tel Abyad, northern Raqqa. Simultaneously, Turkish artillery strikes reportedly killed two SDF members and injured others, with reports of captives and missing personnel.

In retaliation, the SDF shelled Turkish bases in the Ain Issa countryside. Turkish forces responded by deploying military reinforcements amid heightened alert at their bases in Raqqa’s countryside, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).