As fresh fighting unthawed the frozen front lines of Syria's civil war in recent days and insurgents seized control of large areas of the country's north, the world's attention is once again on the 13-year war between the government of President Bashar Al Assad and myriad rebel groups.
The war was initially sparked by pro-democracy demonstrations in the southern city of Deraa in response to the arrest and torture of teenagers who had painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall.
Mr Al Assad government's crackdown on the protests calling for reform and the release of political prisoners gave rise to nationwide demonstrations that soon escalated into a complex civil war that claimed more than 300,000 lives and displaced millions.
As the government pressed the military to quell dissent, a coalition of rebel groups were formed to overthrow Mr Al Assad's regime. Over the years, the turmoil turned into a protracted civil war with a head-spinning mix of domestic and international actors, including extremist factions, regional armies and global superpowers, plunging into the chaotic conflict.
As Syria surges back into a war with the resurgence of the militant forces that have made territorial gains in Aleppo and Idlib after almost a decade, we look at the key events that shaped the conflict since 2011.
2011
March: Violence erupts in Syria's southern city of Deraa after police arrest and torture a group of teens for writing political graffiti against President Bashar Al Assad. Peaceful anti-government protests flare up in several cities around Syria.
August: The UN estimates that more than 2,200 people had been killed by Syrian security forces in the first five months of the conflict. The Syrian National Council formed in Istanbul, claiming to be official Syrian opposition.
November: Syria is suspended from the Arab League after rejecting a peace plan presented by the group. Coalition of opposition groups under the banner of the Free Syrian Army begins attacks on the armed forces in Damascus and Aleppo.
2012
February: The Syrian army begins an assault which killed hundreds of people in just days in the city of Homs, an opposition stronghold and centre of the protest movement. A siege focusing on the Old City lasted three years and the government would not regain control of the city, referred to as the "capital of the revolution" until 2015.
March: Syria agrees to UN-backed peace plan that would have seen heavy weapons and troops pulled back from civilian areas, daily pauses in fighting for humanitarian purposes and the release of those imprisoned during the uprising.
June: Head of the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, calls the conflict a civil war for the first time. The International Committee of the Red Cross says the same in July.
August: The UN formally ends its monitoring mission in Syria after the collapse of the peace plan.
November: Syrian opposition leaders announce the formation of a new Syrian opposition coalition, called the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, also called the Syrian National Coalition.
2013
March: Thousands of fighters belonging to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah join the war to support the Syrian government and extremist groups begin to rise to prominence in the power vacuum left by fighting.
August: US President Barack Obama announces limited military action against targets in Syria in response to the Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons against opposition forces and citizens.
November: UN estimates that more than 100,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict.
December: Syria begins dismantling its chemical weapons programme, including the destruction of missile warheads and bombs.
2014 -2017
July 2014: ISIS declares itself a caliphate with Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi as its leader after making significant territorial gains in Iraq and Syria.
September 2014: The US and a coalition of Arab countries expand their air campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
September 2015: Russia carries out its first air strikes in Syria on behalf of the Syrian regime, in what would become heavy involvement in the conflict.
December 2016: The Syrian government declares victory in Aleppo after the last rebel fighters are evacuated from the city.
October 2017: The Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-aligned Kurdish group, announces that Raqqa has been liberated from ISIS.
2018 - 2024
July 2018: Syrian government forces successfully capture the provinces of Deraa and Al Quneitra after rebels surrender in exchange for safe passage to the province of Idlib.
September 2018: Russia and Turkey announce the creation of a demilitarised zone in Syria’s Idlib province.
October 2019: US president Donald Trump announces US will leave north-eastern Syria, plunging the region into chaos. Turkey launches an offensive into the Kurdish region of north-eastern Syria.
March 2020: Turkey and Russia announce a ceasefire in Idlib, Syria's last opposition enclave, agreeing to establish a security corridor with joint patrols. Covid-19 slows the conflict, hardening front lines of the conflict.
May 2021: Mr Al Assad is re-elected.
February 2022: Russia invades Ukraine, and its assistance to Syria begins to wane.
February 2023: A huge earthquake kills up to 8,000 people in Syria and eight million were affected. Mr Al Assad allows aid to reach rebel-held areas.
December 2024: Extremist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham makes a surprise attack on Syria's second city, Aleppo, taking large parts of the city.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
