Singer Assala Nasri to perform in Syria after 15 year exile

Syrian superstar Assala Nasri is preparing to hold a concert in her home country for the first time in 15 years.

The head of the Syrian Artists Syndicate, Mazen Al-Natour, said the concert would take place in Damascus next December, possibly coinciding with the first anniversary of the downfall of the Assad regime.

Earlier, Anas Nasri, Assala’s brother, visited the Artists Syndicate in Syria to discuss the logistical requirements for the event and the singer’s return to Syria.

Assala, often referred to mononymously, became famous throughout the Arab World in the 1990s with her powerful, emotive voice and traditional tarab style of singing, with hits such as Ya Sabra Yana and Samehtak Kiteer.

She has released around 25 albums over the course of her career, which spans over 30 years.

When the Syrian revolution against former dictator Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, she expressed her opposition to the regime’s violent crushing of protests and sympathy for its victims.

She released the song Ah law hal korsy Byehki (If this chair could talk) in solidarity with the people involved in the uprising.

Her anti-Assad stance meant that she could not return to Syria from abroad for fear of arrest. She was detained at Beirut Airport briefly in 2014 on charges of “fraternising with Israel” and again in 2017 for suspected drug possession.

Both these arrests were believed by her supporters to be politically motivated and carried out at the behest of the Assad regime, which was hugely embarrassed by having such a high-profile singer openly oppose its rule.

Since the Assad regime fell in December 2024, hundreds of thousands of Syrians abroad have returned to their country, either for brief visits or to move there permanently.

These include people who took refuge in neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Lebanon during the brutal 14-year conflict, which claimed over half a million lives.