Syria just hosted its first international tech conference in 50 years
17 comments
·February 12, 2025throw8394994
decimalenough
The text of the article says it's the first time "a free Syria hosted an independent tech conference", implying that any tech conferences under the Assads didn't count.
But yeah, it's a clickbait headline.
SSJPython
> implying that any tech conferences under the Assads didn't count.
Why shouldn't it count exactly?
claudiulodro
What was the 1975 Syrian international tech conference? Article didn’t say.
decimalenough
A reminder that thanks to the Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, any travel to Syria will make you forever invalid for US ESTA (visa-free entry) and you'll need to go through the grueling, incredibly slow and expensive regular US visa process instead.
toyg
Don't they do like Cuba yet? I.e. not stamp your passport but rather a card that is removed on exit, leaving no trace on your passport. (Obviously you still leave traces in airline databases if flying direct, but that can be avoided.)
dalyons
I always wondered, how would they know you’d been? Not like Syria is sharing arrivals lists with the US gov
decimalenough
Stamp in passport is the obvious one. And then you're really screwed, because now you've lied on your application too.
decimalenough
Man, HN is downvote-happy these days. To state what I thought was obvious, I'm not saying I approve of this state of affairs and in fact I'd love to visit Syria, but until the US drops their policy, I realistically cannot.
surfingdino
Any female speakers of note?
ramy_d
Seems like they are featuring some speakers on their instagram https://www.instagram.com/sync_sv/?hl=en
I find this title incredibly offensive!
Syria before war was normal middle income country. It had income from petrol. Tourists from Arabic countries come there for shopping. That was 15 years ago!
Here is a list of international conferences I found in 10 seconds googling. Some of them are technical: https://www.syrleb.org/site/english/index.php?node=115522