The Latest Breaking News from Turkey

The Syrian opposition’s recent capture of the country’s largest city of Aleppo caught much of the international community by surprise. After the involvement of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah in the prolonged Syrian civil war, many observers assumed that Bashar al-Assad’s forces had won the conflict.

When I was buying coffee at a cafe owned by a Syrian man in the UK on Sunday, I asked him what he made of the news that longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad had been ousted from power. He responded optimistically that he and the 7 million Syrians that had fled…

The speed with which the Assad dictatorship was overthrown has taken most external observers by surprise, including agencies from Russia, Iran, America, Britain and France. Those in the know were closer to the scene of the action – Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia – to name but three.

Syria's post-rebel takeover: government operations, airstrikes, and regional power shifts. International community watches closely.