''Al-Watan'' () is a privately owned government-aligned Syrian

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

language daily newspaper published in Syria.

History and profile

''Al Watan'' was launched in 2006. The paper is published by the Syrian Arab Publishing and Distributing Company. It is the country's first private daily newspaper since the 1960s (not counting the state party organ '' Al-Baath''), but its editorial line and reporting is practically identical to that of the public-owned papers. In fact, the owner of the daily is the cousin of the

Syrian President The president of Syria, officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: رئيس سوريا) is the head of state of the Syrian Arab Republic. They are vested with sweeping powers that may be delegated, at their sole discretion, to ...

Bashar al-Assad,

Rami Makhlouf Rami Makhlouf ( ar, رَامِي مَخْلُوف, Rāmī Maḫlūf; born 10 July 1969) is a Syrian businessman and the maternal cousin of president Bashar al-Assad. At the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, he was considered to be Sy ...

. Its sister daily is '' Al Iqtissadiya''. The online edition of the paper was the 33rd most visited website for 2010 in the

MENA region MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

. After the

fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, Ba'athist Syria, led by President Bashar al-Assad, collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Tahrir al-Sham and support ...

in 2024, the newspaper published a statement from its editor-in-chief Waddah Abd Rabbo saying that it was "only carrying out instructions and publishing the news (the government) sent us".

References

2006 establishments in Syria Newspapers established in 2006 Al-Watan Mass media in Damascus Al-Watan {{Syria-newspaper-stub