SYRIA-CONFLICT-ECONOMY

A man counts Turkish Lira banknotes at a shop in the town of al-Dana, near Sarmada, in the northern Syrian province of Idlib on December 13, 2024. The crowd wanders in awe through the aisles saturated with lights, dazzled by the abundance of goods displayed before them in the heart of the former rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria. Located 40 km east of Aleppo but cut off from the rest of the country until the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's government on December 8, Al-Dana has transformed into a vast commercial hub thanks to its proximity to the Turkish border. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)