In a dark, sound-proofed studio in Istanbul, a radio station run by Syrians for Syrians went on air for the first time on Thursday.
According to its manager Jaleel Taha, Al Kul is the first free and independent community radio station to be broadcast throughout most of Syria since the beginning of hostilities in March 2011.
Taha told the Associated Press that his programming reaches Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Idlib, and even the capital Damascus - the seat of Syria's President Bashar Assad's power.
"What makes us different from other radio stations is the message that we carry. Which is, we are for all Syrians, we criticise everybody, even from inside the opposition. Our only three red lines are sectarianism, violence and hatred. Any other subject rather than those three subjects is open to be discussed, even discussing or criticising opposition leaders, everybody," said Taha, a pseudonym used to protect his family, who are still in Syria, from reprisals.
He said the station aims to be impartial and free of partisan politics.
Preparations for the launch started in earnest five months ago.
The operation has since grown and now employs 34 people - 27 inside Syria, and seven in Istanbul.
All of them are Syrian.
One of them is 23-year-old editor Fares al Ali.
"I was working for the Syrian regime under the security forces. I couldn't handle what they were ordering to me to do so I defected and joined the Free Syrian Army. But I left after five months and came to Turkey for my family's safety," he told AP.
"Because of my relationship with the Free Syrian Army, I have a very good network of reporters and people who can provide news from inside Syria. This is why I joined the monitoring team at Radio Al-Kul. I get news from Syria and verify it for this station."
Taha said the station is funded by private donations and non-profit organisations.
Electricity and rent are paid for by the opposition Syrian National Coalition, with which Al Kul shares office space.
Al Kul - which roughly translates into "everybody" or "the people" - has 14 programmes in its repertoire - including one for children called "They Are Too Young to Suffer".
"We cover various everyday subjects that people of Syria like to talk about," explained Taha.
That includes "where to get meat, where to get bread, where the sniper is located", rather than political news.
The Syrian government has jammed signals from within the country so Taha says that they'll continue broadcasting from Turkey - for now.
"We record the media from our different locations and offices," he explained. "We get them assembled here in Istanbul. We upload it on the internet on a dedicated server we have. And our broadcast stations inside Syria download this playlist, this radio section for today, includes the news, the shows, the songs, everything. And they rebroadcast it as FM."
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