DAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa vowed to usher in an era of justice and coexistence a year after the overthrow of Bashar Assad, with tens of thousands taking to the streets to mark the anniversary.
Sharaa’s alliance launched a lightning offensive in late November last year and took Damascus on December 8, bringing a sudden end to more than five decades of Assad family rule and over a decade of civil war.
Jubilant crowds thronged the streets of the capital and other major cities, many people waving Syrian flags, AFP correspondents said, after mosques in the Old City began the day broadcasting celebratory prayers at dawn.
“Today, with the dawn of freedom, we declare a historic break with that legacy, a complete dismantling of the illusion of falsehood, and a permanent departure from the era of despotism and tyranny, ushering in a bright new dawn — a dawn founded on justice, benevolence... and peaceful coexistence,” Sharaa said in a speech to mark the occasion.
His speech was followed by continued celebrations across Syria with fireworks exploding above the massive crowds who chanted along to revolutionary songs played over loudspeakers.
Sharaa also reaffirmed “our commitment to the principle of transitional justice to ensure accountability for all those who violated the law and committed crimes against the Syrian people.”
The civil war, which erupted in 2011 with the Assad government’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests, killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes.
Tens of thousands of people are still missing, many after disappearing into the former government’s prisons, with families awaiting justice for Assad-era atrocities.
‘Like a miracle’
“What happened over the past year seems like a miracle,” said Iyad Burghol, 44, a doctor, noting major developments including President Donald Trump’s embrace of Sharaa, who once had a US bounty on his head.
After years of war and economic crisis, people need basics like electricity “but the most important thing to me is civil peace,” Burghol told AFP.
Sharaa has made progress abroad like restoring Syria’s international standing and winning sanctions relief, but he faces major challenges at home including gaining people’s trust, guaranteeing security, rebuilding institutions and keeping his fractured country united.
“The current phase requires the unification of efforts by all citizens to build a strong Syria, consolidate its stability, safeguard its sovereignty, and achieve a future befitting the sacrifices of its people,” Sharaa said following dawn prayers at Damascus’s famous Umayyad Mosque.
He was wearing military garb as he did when he entered the capital a year ago.
Humanitarian worker Ghaith Tarbin, 50, expressed hope the government would now “prioritize civil peace” after years of war laid waste to swathes of the country.
