''Baladna'' ( ar, بلدنا, lit=Our Country) is a privately owned, government-aligned Arabic daily newspaper published in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The paper has also an English edition which was launched in December 2009 but later shut down.

History and profile

The owner and publisher of ''Baladna'' is the United Group for Publishing, Advertising and Marketing, the Syrian media conglomerate seen as the media arm of the

Assad regime Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in various Arab countries owned by sons of former intelligence chief Major General

Bahjat Suleiman Bahjat Suleiman ( ar, بهجت سليمان; 194925 February 2021), also known as Bahjat Sulayman, was a Syrian Ambassador to Jordan and head of the internal branch of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate (GID), also known as Branch 251, ...

( Majd Bahjat Suleiman and Haidara Suleiman) and Muhammad Bashar Kiwan. Haidara Bahjat Suleiman serves as the editor in chief. In October 2009, ''Baladna'' launched and English edition with a UK-educated chief editor. Since English is not understood by a wide audience in Syria, the aim was to transmit a positive image of Syria to foreign observers and diplomats. The English edition was subsequently shut down. ''Baladna'' is one of two private daily newspapers covering political topics that have succeeded in staying open, due to ownership by businessmen closely tied to the

Government of Syria Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the President of Syria, president is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Syria, prime minister is the head of government. Execut ...

. In an article published in the paper on 21 February 2012, the newspaper stated that that gay Syrians are "social germs ... who have infested our society and took the opportunity to strike once the first signs of weakness appeared," and that the Syrian uprisings "gave homosexuals a freedom they would've never dreamed of" as the Mukhabarat secret police, who would have arrested gays at popular cruising locations, are coping with the uprising now taking up all their time.

References

External links

Official website
Arabic-language newspapers Publications with year of establishment missing Mass media in Damascus Daily newspapers published in Syria {{Asia-newspaper-stub