Politics of Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected for a fourth seven-year term in a presidential election on Wednesday dismissed by the opposition as a sham, news wires reported. Al-Assad won 95.1% of the valid votes, head of the Syrian parliament Hamoud Sabagh said. Some 78.6% of eligible voters cast ballots inside and outside Syria, Sabagh added at a press conference in Damascus.

Syria's Higher Judicial Committee for Presidential Elections informed that the polls in the presidential election have closed.

"The election is over, the vote count has begun," the committee stated, quoted by the SANA news agency.

A handful of wives and children of Montenegrins who joined Islamic State remain in camps in Syria, with no official requests made for their repatriation.

As the civil war in Syria marks its 10th year, Turkish officials reiterated the calls for "international solidarity and burden-sharing" for displaced Syrians.

Turkey will maintain its active foreign policy and stand with oppressed nations in line with its national and international interests, the country's president told a major ruling party convention on March 24. 

The U.N. special envoy for Syria on March 15 praised Turkey's efforts in hosting Syrian refugees. 

In a virtual press conference, Geir Pedersen reaffirmed his call for a nationwide cease-fire in Syria and said the situation in Idlib has been "relatively calm" for over a year.

Turkey, which hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees, deserves more support, while UNICEF is supporting education activities for Syrian children in Turkey, UNICEF Representative to Turkey Regina De Dominicis said on the 10th anniversary of the start of the Syrian civil war.

Ballistic missiles fired from Syrian regime-controlled Kuweires airport in Aleppo have targeted civilian settlements and parking lots for fuel tankers in northern Jarablus and al-Bab districts, with civilian casualties reported, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said early on March 15.

Heysem Topalca, a fugitive whose name was implicated in the Turkish intelligence operations in Syria, has died, taking all his secrets to the grave

The international community cannot leave the Syria tragedy on Turkey's shoulders, the Turkish U.N. envoy said on March 3, as the Syrian war nears its 10th anniversary.