PULSE, 13 May 2014 Bostjan Videmsek interviews Yassin al-Haj Saleh, former political prisoner and one of Syria’s foremost intellectuals, on ‘civil war’, sectarianism, and the geo-political conspiracy theories which render the people of the Middle East invisible. Three years and three months into the conflict, Syria and its people have more or less been…
Interview with 1in.am Armenian News & Analyses
1in.am Armenian News & Analyses, 16 April 2014 Crimean issue and anexion of Crimea has drop shadow on the crisis in Syria, but that has returned to the agenda of the world with the displacement of Kessab Armenians. What has happened in Kessab and why now? Why has Turkey decided to enter Kessab now? As a Syrian,…
Syrian In Exile Writes On Despite Threats, Kidnappings
NPR, 15 March 2014 This weekend marks the third anniversary of the Syrian uprising. We wanted to get some perspective on what that means for Syrians both inside their country and out. So we've managed to reach Yassin Haj Saleh, a Syrian writer who spent 16 years in Syrian prisons and now lives in partial…
The Conscience of Syria
Boston Review, 12 March 2014 Yassin al-Haj Saleh is often called the conscience of the Syrian revolution. Born in Raqqa in 1961, he was arrested in 1980, while a medical student in Aleppo, and imprisoned for his membership in a left-wing organization. He remained a political prisoner until 1996, spending the last of his sixteen years behind…
Under Double Attack
Morgenbladet, 17 January 2014 The longer the Assad regime remains in power, the stronger the jihadists get, says the author Yassin al-Haj Saleh, a former political prisoner in Syria. ‘The revolution is no longer only against the dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad. Now there are three parties inthis conflict, and we are fighting on two…
Syria’s voice of conscience
Le Monde diplomatique, 3 December 2013 Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Syria’s most well-known secular intellectual who is known as hakim al-thawra, the sage of the revolution, has finally left his country to seek refuge in Turkey. He is one of the last intellectual activists leaving Syria. “I know a handful that are left behind, but most…
Interview with Syria Deeply
Syria Deeply, 4 December 2012 Yassin Al Haj Saleh is a prominent moderate dissident in Damascus. He is an independent writer and journalist from a family of leftist activists, who spent almost two decades in prison for his views against President Bashar al Assad. He agreed to an interview with Syria Deeply via email. It…
The time for negotiations is past: Yassin Haj Saleh on the Syrian Revolution
Ahram Online, 22 April 2012 Syrian thinker Yassin Al-Haj Saleh, 51, who is based in Syria, is directly connected to the revolutionary movement on the ground. He has long been known for his anti-Assad regime stand that ultimately led to him and members of his family spending a total of over 16 years in the…
Yassin al-Haj Saleh: “Armenians of Syria not in danger”
Mediamax, 22 February 2012 Yasin Al-Haj Saleh- is a Syrian writer and political dissident. He writes on political, social and cultural subjects relating to Syria and the Arab world. In 1980 he spent time in prison in Syria for his membership in a communist party. He was arrested while he was studying medicine in Aleppo…
The regime cannot be trusted in any way
The Times, 19 November 2011 Yassin al-Haj Saleh, a Syrian opposition activist and intellectual in his fifties, was imprisoned from 1980 to 1996 for his membership of a Communist pro-democracy group. He has been in hiding with his wife, Samira al Khalil, since March. “I’ve been in hiding since March 30, after Bashar Assad’s first…