Cinq ans et demi après le début du conflit, le régime de Bachar al-Assad a annoncé avoir repris la totalité de la ville d’Alep, l’ex-capitale économique du pays. C’est la défaite la plus cuisante de l'opposition armée en reprenant la totalité d'Alep, son ex-capitale économique. Cette annonce est intervenue au terme d'une opération d'évacuation de dizaines de milliers de civils et rebelles, conduits en territoire rebelle hors de la métropole. Pour le président russe Vladimir Poutine, c’est "un pas très important" vers le règlement du conflit syrien.

Photo © Mohamed al-Bakour / AFP

In collaboration with Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Centre for Studies and AJE Programmes department produced an epic three-part documentary series on The Caliph. For almost 13 centuries, from the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 to the overthrow of the last Ottoman caliph in 1924, the Islamic world was ruled by a caliph. Translated from the Arabic ‘Khalifa’, the word ‘caliph’ means successor or deputy. The caliph was considered the successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
It is a term that has, at times, been abused. In June 2014, an armed group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL or ISIS) declared the establishment of a caliphate and proclaimed its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a caliph. This proclamation was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims. ISIL had attempted to appropriate a title imbued with religious and political significance – and in doing so had cast a dark shadow over a rich history. This is the story of the caliph, a title that originated 1,400 years ago and that spanned one of the greatest empires the world has ever known.