Alexander McKeever
@akmckeever.bsky.social
Damascus-based New Yorker obsessed with Cape Breton (and Syria) Author of This Week in Northern Syria newsletter, regular open sourced updates on northern Aleppo and SDF-controlled eastern Syria: https://akmckeever.substack.com
This week I'm experimenting with Substack's new feature allowing specific sections to be paywalled... akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [29.2026]
July 15 - 21: Final Afrin return convoy, 'Alouk trial run begins, al-Hasakah district officials appointed, and more..
akmckeever.substack.com
This week I'm experimenting with Substack's new feature allowing specific sections to be paywalled... akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [29.2026]
July 15 - 21: Final Afrin return convoy, 'Alouk trial run begins, al-Hasakah district officials appointed, and more..
akmckeever.substack.com
This week: at least 7 killed in ferry accident in Deir, DAANES judges undergo interviews with MoJ in Damascus, People's Assembly meets for first time, demonstrations demanding Gov't make Kobani the official name, economic protests continue in Govt & SDF areas akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [28.2026]
July 8 - 14: Ferry tragedy in Deir ez-Zour, new People's Assembly meets for first time, DAANES judges interviewed by MoJ in Damascus, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week: People's Assembly appointments, Qamishli brigade returns from Nabk + Derik heads west, Qutaibah Badawi at Nusaybin, Bishop Amsih in Ras al-'Ain, anger over Qamishli municipality demolition of a French Mandate building, Raqqa's Rashid bridge opens... akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [27.2026]
July 1 - 7: People's Assembly appointments, Qamishli municipality demolish Mandate era building, 1st SDF brigade returns from Nabk, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week: People's Assembly appointments, Qamishli brigade returns from Nabk + Derik heads west, Qutaibah Badawi at Nusaybin, Bishop Amsih in Ras al-'Ain, anger over Qamishli municipality demolition of a French Mandate building, Raqqa's Rashid bridge opens... akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [27.2026]
July 1 - 7: People's Assembly appointments, Qamishli municipality demolish Mandate era building, 1st SDF brigade returns from Nabk, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week's issue: new gas prices set by the Ministry of Energy and related shortages in the NE and elsewhere, economic protests in SDF areas, phase two of Kurdish naturalization, and a dispute between the PYD and ENKS over last year's joint delegation akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [26.2026]
June 24 - 30: Protests over the economic situation continue in NES, new fuel prices announced, PYD-ENKS spat over unity delegation, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week's issue: new gas prices set by the Ministry of Energy and related shortages in the NE and elsewhere, economic protests in SDF areas, phase two of Kurdish naturalization, and a dispute between the PYD and ENKS over last year's joint delegation akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [26.2026]
June 24 - 30: Protests over the economic situation continue in NES, new fuel prices announced, PYD-ENKS spat over unity delegation, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
New @warontherocks.bsky.social: how do the Iran war, Assad's fall, & the PKK's dissolution reshape Kurdish prospects? Joined @gonultol.bsky.social, @akmckeever.bsky.social, & Mohammed Salih to break it down. My section: KRG's leverage with Baghdad. warontherocks.com/the-shifting...
The Shifting Fortunes of the Kurds
The Kurds’ fortunes have ebbed and flowed in recent years, but the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024, the 2025 decision by the Kurdistan
warontherocks.com
This week: Got recognizes DAANES diplomas and ok's continuation of its curriculum next school year (Uni degrees not included), uptick in crop fires particular along old Tell Tamer front lines, DAANES continues removing subsidies exacerbating cost of living akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [25.2026]
June 17 - 23: Gov't recognizes DAANES secondary certificates, crop fires across northern al-Hasakah, protests over oil price hikes in Qamishli, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week: Got recognizes DAANES diplomas and ok's continuation of its curriculum next school year (Uni degrees not included), uptick in crop fires particular along old Tell Tamer front lines, DAANES continues removing subsidies exacerbating cost of living akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [25.2026]
June 17 - 23: Gov't recognizes DAANES secondary certificates, crop fires across northern al-Hasakah, protests over oil price hikes in Qamishli, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
My second Afrin dispatch: Observations and photos from two day trips to the city last month, including a walk up to the very top and discussions on several main issues the region faces today akmckeever.substack.com/p/afrin-disp...
Afrin Dispatch
Notes and photographs from recent day trips to the city
akmckeever.substack.com
Photos and observations from a bus trip along the M4, from Aleppo to Qamishli akmckeever.substack.com/p/m4-dispatch
M4 Dispatch
Notes and photographs from a recent drive along the M4 from Aleppo to Qamishli
akmckeever.substack.com
Photos and observations from a bus trip along the M4, from Aleppo to Qamishli akmckeever.substack.com/p/m4-dispatch
M4 Dispatch
Notes and photographs from a recent drive along the M4 from Aleppo to Qamishli
akmckeever.substack.com
My second Afrin dispatch: Observations and photos from two day trips to the city last month, including a walk up to the very top and discussions on several main issues the region faces today akmckeever.substack.com/p/afrin-disp...
Afrin Dispatch
Notes and photographs from recent day trips to the city
akmckeever.substack.com
This week: 1,700 families return to Afrin in what is to be the last convoy, local tensions in Shuyoukh lead to attack on ISF checkpoint and subsequent arrests, HKN to take over seven oil fields in NES, IS attack in Raqqah and unclaimed attack in al-Bab... akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [24.2026]
June 10 - 16: 8th Afrin IDP convoy, IS attack security compound in Raqqah, US company to take over northeastern oil fields, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week: 1,700 families return to Afrin in what is to be the last convoy, local tensions in Shuyoukh lead to attack on ISF checkpoint and subsequent arrests, HKN to take over seven oil fields in NES, IS attack in Raqqah and unclaimed attack in al-Bab... akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [24.2026]
June 10 - 16: 8th Afrin IDP convoy, IS attack security compound in Raqqah, US company to take over northeastern oil fields, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week's issue: Hasakah Gov visits Raqqah - draws protests, Aleppo Gov visits Kobani - draws protests, Asayish integration begins, certificate exams held, crop fires, Turkmen Council want constitutional recognition, Hasakah economic/anti-SDF protests akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [23.2026]
June 3 - 9: Latest integration news, certificate exams begin, economic/anti-SDF protests in Hasakah, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week’s issue: flooding in Deir ez-Zour and al-Raqqah after Turkey opens Euphrates dams on short notice, Elham Ahmad visits Afrin and Sheikh Maqsoud, Govt releases 28 YPJ fighters… akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [22.2026]
May 27 - June 2: Flooding in al-Raqqah and Deir ez-Zour, Elham Ahmad visits Afrin & Sheikh Maqsoud, Gov't releases 28 YPJ detainees, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
Available to paid subscribers: my writeup of a recent walk through al-Sheikh Maqsoud and the surrounding neighborhoods. akmckeever.substack.com/p/sheikh-maq...
Sheikh Maqsoud Dispatch
Notes and photographs from a recent walk though the former SDF enclave
akmckeever.substack.com
These reports from ex-SDF areas in Syria are great. Full of historical and local detail. Recommended for anyone following Syria. • Raqqa: akmckeever.substack.com/p/raqqah-dis... • Efrin: substack.com/home/post/p-... • Sheikh Maqsoud: akmckeever.substack.com/p/sheikh-maq... @akmckeever.bsky.social
Sheikh Maqsoud Dispatch
Notes and photographs from a recent walk though the former SDF enclave
akmckeever.substack.com
Available to paid subscribers: my writeup of a recent walk through al-Sheikh Maqsoud and the surrounding neighborhoods. akmckeever.substack.com/p/sheikh-maq...
Sheikh Maqsoud Dispatch
Notes and photographs from a recent walk though the former SDF enclave
akmckeever.substack.com
This week's issue: the elections and PYD boycott, surging water levels on the Euphrates, Raqqah Gov's plan to clear north-of-tracks slums triggers protests, Tarhin refinery protests, latest Afrin returnees & detainee releases, Nawaf al-Bashir's return to Deir akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [21.2026]
May 20 - 26: al-Hasakah and Kobani 'elections,' Euphrates water level surges, al-Raqqah 'other side of the tracks' protests, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
This week's issue: the elections and PYD boycott, surging water levels on the Euphrates, Raqqah Gov's plan to clear north-of-tracks slums triggers protests, Tarhin refinery protests, latest Afrin returnees & detainee releases, Nawaf al-Bashir's return to Deir akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [21.2026]
May 20 - 26: al-Hasakah and Kobani 'elections,' Euphrates water level surges, al-Raqqah 'other side of the tracks' protests, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
Some notes on recent Mazloum 'Abdi interviews w/ Al Monitor, Hawar, and an Al Arabiya podcast. Covers many topics, from ongoing integration to the relationship btw the 2012 Crisis Cell bombing in Damascus to the YPG's seizure of Kurdish areas across Syria akmckeever.substack.com/p/recent-maz...
Recent Mazloum 'Abdi interviews
On the status of integration, the January battles, and his experiences within the PKK and over the course of Syria's civil war
akmckeever.substack.com
Some notes on recent Mazloum 'Abdi interviews w/ Al Monitor, Hawar, and an Al Arabiya podcast. Covers many topics, from ongoing integration to the relationship btw the 2012 Crisis Cell bombing in Damascus to the YPG's seizure of Kurdish areas across Syria akmckeever.substack.com/p/recent-maz...
Recent Mazloum 'Abdi interviews
On the status of integration, the January battles, and his experiences within the PKK and over the course of Syria's civil war
akmckeever.substack.com
This week: more on the dispute surrounding judicial integration and the use of the Kurdish language on official signage, the two biggest Afrini IDP return convoys, another government prisoner release, Abdi's 2 hr interview with Arabiya... akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [19.2026]
May 6 - 12: Judicial integration stalls over signage, two Afrini IDP convoys return, 232 SDF detainees released by Gov't, and more...
akmckeever.substack.com
As the situation regarding the Hasakah Palace of Justice and bilingual signage continues to unfold, I looked back at the various signs governmental signs installed in Kobani and Hasakah since the January 29th agreement akmckeever.substack.com/p/the-ongoin...
The ongoing sign controversy
A look into the institutional banners and signs installed since the January 29th agreement
akmckeever.substack.com
Iontach suimiúil
Alexander McKeever@akmckeever.bsky.social · 3mo agoAs the situation regarding the Hasakah Palace of Justice and bilingual signage continues to unfold, I looked back at the various signs governmental signs installed in Kobani and Hasakah since the January 29th agreement akmckeever.substack.com/p/the-ongoin...
As the situation regarding the Hasakah Palace of Justice and bilingual signage continues to unfold, I looked back at the various signs governmental signs installed in Kobani and Hasakah since the January 29th agreement akmckeever.substack.com/p/the-ongoin...
The ongoing sign controversy
A look into the institutional banners and signs installed since the January 29th agreement
akmckeever.substack.com
This week's issue: rising costs in Hasakah as DAANES lowers subsidies and gov't imposes new customs prices and regulations on Semalka crossing, Gov't acknowledges detaining German journo Maria Michelmann since Jan, Ahmad al-Hilali appointed Dep Gov of Hasakah akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
This Week in Northern Syria [18.2026]
April 29 - May 5: Protest of new customs regime at Semalka,
akmckeever.substack.com