Syria

Ukraine, a global producer and exporter of grain, has sent its first batch of food aid to Syria, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced today.

Communicating with him was not easy. Syria's state-run telecommunications network has collapsed. Metropolitan Ephraim of Aleppo and Alexandretta was, as Kathimerini learned, in a "secure location" in Aleppo. The advance of the jihadists evoked memories of the beginning of the Syrian civil war, when these forces had turned against the Greek Orthodox.

Turkey aims to provide electricity to Syria and strengthen its power infrastructure, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar was quoted on Friday as saying, adding that Ankara may also work with Syria's new leadership on oil and natural gas.

The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians, held a half-hour meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Christmas Day at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

Cyprus is once again making headline news as Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides becomes the first leader in the region to appoint a special representative - Ambassador Thessalia Salina Shambos - for religious freedoms and the protection of minorities in the Middle East. 

Türkiye is prepared to cooperate with Syria's new government in the fight against terrorism, defense officials said on Dec. 26.

The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew invited more than 50 lonely Greeks from Istanbul to celebrate Christmas together with their spiritual father in a family-like atmosphere.

A delegation from the Turkish parliament will visit the notorious Saydnaya prison in Syria on Dec. 30, following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government.

Syria's security forces launched an operation on Thursday against pro-Assad "militias" in the western province of Tartus a day after deadly clashes with gunmen affiliated with the former government.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a stern message to Kurdish fighters in Syria, urging them to either lay down their arms or be buried alongside them.