Aleppo Project Launches Website to Help Efforts to Rebuild the City When the War Ends

Aleppo has been destroyed many times in its more than 8,000 years of history – and each time it was rebuilt. “This is a city that will come back again,” said CCNR Director Robert Templer. He pointed to the importance of a positive narrative in mobilizing people to rebuild their cities after they have been destroyed. The Aleppo Project website has been launched to provide a platform for refugees and others who are already mobilizing people and resources to rebuild Syria when the war ends.

CCNR Fellow AlHakam Shaar, who grew up in Aleppo, described the first of a series of discoveries he made about “my city” when he traveled to the old city of Aleppo with his father when he was eight years old. He was struck especially by the differences in how people lived. “I saw how diverse people could be,” he remembered. Shaar noted that it was not just buildings that would have to be rebuilt when the war ends, but communities too. He said that for some communities in Syria what will be rebuilt will be an improvement.

Armenak Tokmajyan, who is also a fellow at CCNR, also spoke about some of the opportunities that have been created by the enormous destruction of recent years. He pointed especially to the opportunities that had been created for Syrian youth, youth who had been neglected and ignored in the past. That has changed in recent years as Syrian youth have taken the lead to establish websites, publish newspapers, and create enterprises. “There has been a revolution in all senses of the word,” Tokmajyan said. “I am optimistic because of the skills of young people in Syria,” he said.

A group of exceptionally talented Hungarian musicians also celebrated the launch of the Aleppo Project website performing music dedicated to Aleppo composed by Gábor Berkó.

Adam Hosman - Arab percussion
Albert Márkos - Cello
Anastasia Razvalyaeva - Harp
Tijana Stankovic - Violin
Zoltán Bordás - Percussion
Zsuzsanna Tóth - Flute

The Aleppo Project website launch took place on October 20. It is part of CCNR’s Aleppo Project, an open collaboration among stakeholders to identify policy tools and ideas that will be helpful for the people of Aleppo when they rebuild their city when the war ends.