Stephen Starr

Stephen Starr is an Irish journalist who lived in Syria from 2007 to 2012. He is the author of Revolt in Syria: Eye-Witness to the Uprising (Oxford University Press: 2012).

Author Articles

Breaking isolation? Syrian President Bashar Assad (L) receiving Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at Damascus Airport, December 16. (SANA)
Time for the West to embrace Assad again?
February 02, 2019
A restaurant worker stands by a board outside a currency exchange shop in Istanbul. (AP)
Erdogan risks electoral blowback as economy slows
February 02, 2019
Elusive dreams. Supporters and fighters of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) drive in the street in Qamishli. (AFP)
Is the YPG really a threat to Turkey?
January 05, 2019
Narrow horizons. A Syrian flag flies in a rubble strewn street at the entrance of the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Damascus. (AFP)
What will Syria look like in 2019?
December 15, 2018
Falling apart. A Turkish soldier stands atop a bulldozer at a camp for the Syrian displaced in the Deir al-Ballut refugee camp in Afrin’s countryside, on November 19. (AFP)
Turkey has dug a massive hole for itself in Syria
November 24, 2018
General-Secretary of DISK/Dev Yapi-Is Nihat Demir. (Courtesy of Nihat Demir)
Union leader describes Istanbul construction site as ‘slave camp’
October 20, 2018
A Syrian man evacuated from the area of Fuaa and Kafraya in the Idlib province, waits outside a bus at al-Eis crossing south of Aleppo, on July 19. (AFP)
Europe’s second Syrian migrant crisis could be coming
August 11, 2018
US President Donald Trump (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talk at the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, on July 11. (Reuters)
Arm-wrestling or not, Turkey’s spat with the West leaves a mark
August 04, 2018
Supporters of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attend a rally in Eskisehir in north-western Turkey, last June. (AP)
Erdogan’s party seeks power for a generation
August 04, 2018
Syrian flags hang from buildings as workers rebuild destroyed stores in Harasta on the outskirt of Damascus, on July 15. (AFP)
Talk of rebuilding Syria is delusional
July 28, 2018
Against all odds. An election committee member shows a ballot displaying a vote for Selahattin Demirtas, presidential candidate of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) at a polling station in Istanbul, on June 24, 2018. (AFP)
How the Kurdish-rooted HDP party survived Erdogan’s onslaught
June 30, 2018
Turkish police officers escort men, suspected of being ISIS members, at a court in Adana in southern Turkey, last November. (AP)
Why ISIS still poses a massive threat to Turkey
June 23, 2018
A rebel fighter holds his weapon as he smokes a cigarette on the outskirts of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, last year. (Reuters)
Here’s why we all misjudged the Syrian uprising and war
May 12, 2018
A wounded Syrian girl receives treatment following regime bombardments on the besieged Eastern Ghouta region, on February 21. (AFP)
Decades from now, Assad will be remembered for his bloody tactics
March 24, 2018
A black-and-white depiction of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani that was put up by authorities to attract signatures and comments from residents is seen in Doha.(AP)
Doha’s isolation rings loud, fewer options available
March 17, 2018
A woman reacts as Turkish anti-riot police officers arrest her during a demonstration in Istanbul called by the Peoples’ Democratic Party to protest against Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in Syria, on January 21. (AFP)
Why the anti-Kurdish narrative endures in Turkey
February 17, 2018
By stigmatising Kurds, Erdogan’s AKP has destroyed hopes for long-term peace
January 11, 2018

Turkish police officers escort people after their arrest for alleged links with US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, last April. (AFP)
The violence in Turkey has subsided but at a huge cost
January 08, 2018

Brain drain means Syria can’t recover for a generation
November 19, 2017

A sadly critical fissure has developed in Syr­ian society.

Can Turkey overcome its legacy of military and strategic failings?
October 22, 2017

Despite a series of dis­astrous attempts to further its influence in the region, Turkey has, it s