Overview
- Crowds filled Damascus and other cities for parades and dawn prayers, with a packed Umayyad Square and flyovers as state media showcased the anniversary.
- Ahmed al‑Sharaa said the transition will run four more years to build state institutions and draft a constitution for referendum before national elections.
- The Kurdish-led northeast banned public gatherings citing threats from “terror cells,” and efforts to integrate its institutions into the state have stalled.
- A leading Alawite cleric urged a boycott and shops closed in parts of the coast, underscoring minority distrust after sectarian killings in Alawite and Druze areas this year.
- Syria’s external ties have widened with sanctions relief and a White House visit, yet the UN counts 16.5 million people needing aid in 2025 and the World Bank estimates reconstruction could cost up to $216 billion.