Al-Assad family

With the kidnapping of some 80 Turkish citizens in Mosul by the notorious ISIL (“Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”), more Turks finally realized that “jihadists” could be a lethal threat. Because, for a long time, both the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government and its base believed the only problem beyond our southern borders was the bloody tyranny of Bashar al-Assad.

The assessment in the title line does not belong to this columnist, but has been cherished in this column since a Turkey specialist realistically put it in a Reuters analysis a couple of years earlier.

Western countries that backed the revolt in Syria have started to shift their positions because of the danger posed to them by jihadists, according to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The United States and the West have started to send signs of change. Terrorism is now on their soil,” said al-Assad, according to remarks published in a Lebanese newspaper.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced on Monday a 'general amnesty' for all crimes committed to date, the country's state television said, cited by international media.

The decree was issued in the context of "social forgiveness, national cohesion calls for coexistence, as the army secures several military victories," the channel said, quoting Justice Minister Najem al-Ahmad.

Bashar al-Assad has won Syria's presidential election by a landslide, according to officials.

Assad has gained 88.7% of support in the first vote with multiple candidates held in the country for decades.

Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar, the other two candidates that stood for election, won 4.3 and 3.2 percent respectively, according to Al Jazeera English.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has secured a landslide victory in a wartime election that was condemned as a sham by his opponents but demonstrated his tenacious hold on power after three years of brutal civil war.

Syrians are voting in a presidential election on Tuesday, with incumbent Bashar al-Assad in pole position to win a third term.

The opposition has labeled the vote as a "farce", manipulated by the ruling party. Polling stations have only been opened in the government-controlled areas, while people in the rebel-held regions will not be able to have their say, the BBC reports.

Syrians voted as fighting raged June 3 in a presidential election in which Bashar al-Assad is looking to tighten his grip as his forces battle rebels in a devastating three-year war.

Assad is facing two little-known challengers and is expected to win, despite a massive rebellion and a war which the U.N. has warned is likely to drag on even longer as a result of the vote.

Voting offices opened June 3 in Syrian regime-held areas for a presidential election that Bashar al-Assad is expected to win, and that has been slammed as a "farce" by the opposition.

A car bomb killed at least 10 people in a Syrian government-held area of the central province of Homs on Monday, state media said, the eve of an election expected to be won easily by President Bashar al-Assad.
  
Syrian television said the explosion caused major damage in nearby houses.