The Citadel of Aleppo

Photo: steps leading to the inner gate of the Citadel of Aleppo in Northern Syria, photo take in 1996

The Citadel of Aleppo is a fortified palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, which suffered extensive damages as a result of the ongoing Syrian civil war; the above photo was taken in 1996, well before the civil war began.

After the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, the Syrian government forces used Citadel of Aleppo as a shield and convenient location to fire at the rebel forces who retaliated because of which some parts of the citadel were damaged in 2012. Further, the photos released in February 2016 revealed more extensive damages to it.

With a recorded history since the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, the citadel hill has been occupied by several civilizations including the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ayyubids and Mamluks. Some of them built or rebuilt the ancient structures on the citadel mount. But most of the structures seen presently were built during the Ayyubid reign.

The citadel was one of the major tourist destinations in Syria before the civil war began, both for domestic and foreign travelers. The upscale Carlton Hotel, which stood directly opposite the citadel and popular among foreign tourists, was obliterated in an explosion in 2014.

According to a UN report, 22 heritage sites in Aleppo have been completely destroyed. To the north of the citadel, the Agha Jeq Mosque was hit by airstrikes and shattered, as photos published on 12 January 2016 reveal.

As per reports, six UNESCO World Heritage sites in Syria have been extensively damaged or totally destroyed and a good number of historical artifacts have been looted and they eventually found their way in the gray international art market.

Ancient Archaeological Site in Palmyra, Syria

Photo: View of ancient archaeological site in Palmyra in October 2007

The Palmyra saga is at least 7500 years old. The earliest documented name Tadmor was in use from about 2000 BC. Then the present name Palmyra appeared in the first century AD in the works of Pliny the Elder, and became popular in Greco-Roman world.

Both the names are related to palm trees which were plenty in the area, at least twenty varieties of them. Some of them are still visible as the site is nested in an oasis overlooked by mountain ranges in the Syrian Desert.

Since 2011 when the Syrian Civil War began, the area became the target of many opposing forces. As a result, this UNESCO World Heritage Site experienced large scale fighting, looting of artifacts and wanton destruction.

In the early days of the civil war, the Syrian Army men took positions among and atop the archeological structures to shoot at the Syrian rebels positioned at various locations around the city. Later, as the advancing Islamic State fighters took control of the town of Tadmur in May 2015, the government transported the artifacts from the Palmyra museum to Damascus.

The Islamic State forces entered Palmyra on 21 May 2015 defeating Syrian Army, and the Syrian Air Force bombed the site on 13 June damaging some ancient structures. During their occupation, the Islamic State used the Roman Theatre at Palmyra to stage public executions continuously since 27 May 2015.

The Syrian Army, supported by airstrikes provided by the Russian air force retook Palmyra on 27 March 2016. Apart from large scale destruction by the Islamist forces, the fighting also destroyed many structures.

However, all is not lost yet, as numerous historical structures are still unaffected.

Reportedly the Islamic State is fast losing many of its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, especially as they face elimination from their strongholds such as Mosul and Raqqah. It seems they are now in another attempt to spread out and expand. Maybe, as a part of that they recaptured Palmyra from the Syrian government forces on 11 December 2016.

And now the news reports say the government forces are preparing to fight the Islamist forces occupying Palmyra - the photo that you see here is of 2007, much before the reported destruction.

A good number of ancient monuments of Palmyra were bombarded and reduced to rubbles. How many more structures will be bombed and mortared? How many more lives will be lost? Only the coming days can tell.

Interestingly, after May 2015, a lot Greco-Roman busts and other artifacts including jewelry looted from the Palmyra museum appeared for sale in international markets.

Sultan Bayezid in the Captivity of Tamerlane by Stanislaw Chlebowski

Photo: Sultan Bayezid in Captivity of Timur (1878) by Stanislaw Chlebowski, oil on canvas painting, 70 × 112 cm, Lviv National Art Gallery, Ukraine

In this painting, often titled as “Bayezid I Held Captive by Timur”, the Polish painter Stanislaw Chlebowski (1835-84) depicts two of the most dreaded conquerors of his times.

The painting, the title of which is variously translated also as “Sultan Bayezid Prisoned by Timur”, or “Bayezid I At The Hands Of Timur”, depicts Timur (also known as Tamerlane and or Timur the Lame) as the figure standing in the fore, wearing a kimono-styled mongoloid tunic. As he is lame*, he is supporting himself with a cane. Bayazid is the declining old man with downcast eyes and apparently suffering from a bout of depression.

Bayezid I (1360-1403), the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402, had the reputation of having one of the largest and best armies in the Islamic world. He had leaded many military campaigns and unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople.

The Battle of Ankara, fought on 20 July 1402, ended in a major victory for Timur, and it marked the worst crisis for the Ottoman Empire, though it gradually recovered and flourished for two more centuries. But it was the beginning of the end of the Timurid Empire that disintegrated following Tamerlane's death on 18 February 1405.

In 1402, Bayezid was trying to conquer Hungary, when Timur found it the right opportunity to invade the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan rushed back to confront the Timurids, who were slaughtering people and plundering cities and towns on their way. The Sultan withdrew his forces from the siege of Constantinople and deployed them against the Timurids.

By the time, the brother-in-law and a vassal of the Sultan, the Serbian prince Stefan Lazarević and his forces, along with the Wallachia forces, were already fighting off the invaders. Bayezid joined forces with Lazarević who advised him to break out with him, but the sultan declined. Eventually, Taimur defeated the Ottoman forces and took the sultan prisoner on 20 July 1402.

Along with the sultan, one of his wives, Despina Hatun (Mileva Olivera Lazarević, the younger sister of Stefan Lazarevic) and one of the sultan’s sons Mustafa Celebi were also captured by Timur. Olivera was freed after the death of the sultan in captivity in March 1403. But Mustafa Celebi was held prisoner in Samarkand until 1405.

The battle is of special significance in Ottoman Empire’s history as it is the only time a ruling Sultan was captured and made prisoner. The battle also fractured the empire and ignited a civil war among Bayezid's sons for power, which continued for 11 years.

Some historians estimate that both the armies together had nearly one million soldiers, though claims regarding the exact strengths widely vary. It has been claimed that over 50,000 Turks were killed in a few hours of the war.

Earlier, Timur massacred over 100,000 people (various estimates put the figure between 100,000 and 200,000) in the city of Delhi, after a battle on 17 December 1398 in which he defeated the army of Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq who ruled the Sultanate of Delhi. According to historians, Timur’s invasions caused the deaths of 17 million people, about 5% of the world population of the time.

Timur continued to expand his empire until his death. After three months of battles against the Ming Dynasty of China, Timur died of fever on 18 February 1405.

Soon after Timur's death, his empire fell apart. But Shahrukh Mirza, the youngest son of Timur from one of his concubines, ruled the eastern region of the fractured empire, ruling from Herat in Afghanistan. After a string of weak rulers, the Timur dynasty’s rule ended in 1507.

Tamerlane’s descendents include Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire, and the Timurid ruler Ulugh Beg.

* In 1363, it is believed, Timur tried to steal a sheep when a shepherd shot two arrows, injuring his right leg and right hand where he lost two fingers. These injuries crippled him for life, and earned him the names Timur the Lame and Tamerlane.

The Plight of Somali Refugees in Dadaab

Photo: “On the edge of the camp, a young girl stands amid the freshly made graves of 70 children, many of whom died of malnutrition”, Oxfam East Africa, photo by Andy Hall, taken on 25 July 2011.

Dadaab is a desert scrubland town in Garissa County of northeast Kenya, bordering Somalia. It houses the world’s largest refugee complex.

In 1991 a coalition of clan-based rebel groups overthrew the dictator Siad Barre and freed the people of Somalia after a decade long civil war. But the clan leaders could not consolidate their gains and reestablish rule of law. Instead, they fought among themselves for power. As the cumulative effect of clan conflicts and civil war, the economy collapsed and life and property became insecure.

It’s 2016. The civil war still continues in Somalia.

Refugees from Somalia began to arrive in Dadaab in 1992 when the camps at Hagadera, Dagahaley and Ifo were setup. In 2011 more camps were added at Ifo II and Kambioos to accommodate people fleeing from drought and famine.

The Dadaab camps are managed by the UNHCR, ably supported by other aid agencies. In the course of time, the complex has grown like a chaotic town full of slums. Refugees live in tents and huts.

To add fuel to fire, the jihadist group Al Shabaab bombed, maimed and killed civilians and others in Somalia. They disrupted and destroyed life and property as never before. And they scored major military victories throughout 2007 and 2008. And they controlled vast swathes of land in southern Somalia. Their brutalities forced many more people to flee to Dadaab.

People coming from Somalia were starving and malnourished. Though, generally, food and other supplies are rationed on priority to children, many of them die due to malnutrition and infections.

In conflicts of this scale, the first casualty is always children, followed by the weak and old aged.

In November 2013, following the attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall by Al Shabaab, Kenya pushed for the repatriation of refugees. Consequently, a tripartite agreement was signed in Mogadishu by Somalia, Kenya and UNHCR to facilitate voluntary repatriation of refugees.

According to the agreement and assisted by the repatriation package, some people have gone back but many of them now want to return to the camps as they find life in the camps far better and more secure than in Somalia.

Following the Garissa University College attack in 2015 by Al Shabaab, the Kenyan government asked UNHCR to repatriate the remaining refugees to their home country. In May 2016, Kenya unilaterally decided to shut down the camps by the end of November 2016.

Kenya alleges that the jihadist group sourced new recruits from Dadaab and that they are using the camps as terrorist training grounds.

However, there has been international pressure on Kenya to allow the refugees to stay in the camps, and the UNHCR regards it as an irresponsible decision by Kenya.

However, the Kenyan government announced on Wednesday that, in response to the UNHCR request, it would extend the deadline to close the camps by six months, adding that voluntary repatriation will continue.

It’s alleged that refugees are coerced to return. A survey revealed that only 25% are willing to return.

The civil war there is still going on in Somalia. The government is struggling to put the failed economy back on rails. Life there is appalling. There are no jobs, no food to eat. Under these conditions, coerced repatriation will only expose the youth to radicalization.

And, forced repatriation violates the refugees’ basic human rights.