DAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa attended a celebration in Aleppo commemorating the first anniversary of the city’s liberation from the regime of Bashar Assad.
Aleppo was the first city to rise up against the regime in 2011. Other cities followed suit.
The alliance, led by Al-Sharaa, entered Aleppo on Nov. 29 last year and swiftly took control of Syria’s second city.
Al-Sharaa said that the city’s liberation marked the beginning of the liberation of the entire Syrian Arab Republic, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
Syria's President Ahmad Al-Sharaa spoke during a gathering on Sunday in front of Aleppo's citadel to commemorate the first anniversary of the city’s liberation from the Assad regime. (SANA photo)
“Our people made great sacrifices until we reached the achievements we celebrate today,” he told Saturday’s celebration rally.
“Aleppo was reborn, and with its rebirth, all of Syria was reborn. In moments like these, a new history for all of Syria was being written, through Aleppo and its proud citadel,” Al-Sharaa told hundreds of people gathered outside the city’s famous monument.
Shortly afterwards, he appeared at the top of the citadel’s tower near a huge Syrian flag.
The president said that when Aleppo was liberated, he was certain that Damascus would be freed as well.
“From the walls of Aleppo, we saw Damascus liberated, and from the walls of this citadel, we saw the fighters in the heart of Damascus. For us, Aleppo was the gateway to entering all of Syria.
“After Aleppo was liberated, smiles returned to the faces of Syria’s children.”
Syria's President Ahmad Al-Sharaa spoke during a gathering on Sunday in front of Aleppo's citadel to commemorate the first anniversary of the city’s liberation from the Assad regime. (SANA photo)
Al-Sharaa said that “hope returned to the entire nation that Syria would once again come back into its embrace,” when Aleppo was liberated.
“Today is not merely a celebration of Aleppo, but a marker of a new history being written for all of Syria and for the entire region.
“With this liberation,” he said, “a long road is ahead of us for its rebuilding and restoration.”
He said that the reconstruction of Aleppo is a firm and essential part of rebuilding the Syrian Arab Republic.
On Sunday, Al-Sharaa met with civil and military representatives in Aleppo province.
In his speech, Al‑Sharaa congratulated the residents on the liberation of Aleppo and emphasized the need for collective efforts to rebuild the governorate and strengthen its institutions.
Interior Minister Anas Khattab and the governor of Aleppo, Azzam Al‑Gharib, attended the meeting.
