Overview
- Crowds packed Damascus’s Umayyad Square and other cities for dawn prayers, marches and a military display as the anniversary was celebrated.
- President Ahmed al-Sharaa urged collective effort and said the transitional period will extend four more years to build institutions and draft a constitution before elections.
- The Kurdish-led administration congratulated Syrians yet barred public gatherings in the northeast over security threats, while the SDF pressed for inclusive dialogue as integration efforts stalled.
- Alawite cleric Ghazal Ghazal urged a boycott and general strike against the new authorities, underscoring minority mistrust after deadly violence in coastal areas and Sweida.
- Syria’s foreign ties have been recast with sanctions relief and outreach to Washington and Gulf states, as the UN and Human Rights Watch flag a fragmented security landscape, 16.5 million people in need of aid, and gaps in transitional justice.