DAMASCUS, March 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Syrians gathered on Saturday to 
commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising in public demonstrations 
in Damascus for the first time since president Bashar al-Assad was toppled.

The demonstration in Damascus's Umayyad Square is the first in the capital 
after years of repression under Assad, during which the square was the sole 
preserve of the ousted president's supporters.

Activists also called on people to gather in the cities of Homs, Idlib and 
Hama at demonstrations under the slogan "Syria is victorious".

By the afternoon, dozens of people had gathered in the capital's Umayyad 
Square, amid a heavy security presence and with military helicopters overhead 
dropping leaflets bearing the slogan "there is no room for hate among us".

Security forces were stationed at all entrances to the square, with some of 
them handing out flowers to demonstrators while speakers blared revolutionary 
and Islamic songs.

Many attendees waved the Syrian flag -- officially changed from one used 
under Assad to the design from the independence era -- and held signs reading 
"the revolution has triumphed".

Hanaa al-Daghri, 32, was among those in the square and told AFP "what is 
happening now is a dream we never dared to imagine".

"I left Damascus 12 years ago because I was wanted, and I would have never 
had any hope of returning were it not for the liberation," she said.

"We are missing many friends who are no longer with us, but their bloodshed 
brought us to where we are today."

Under bright sunlight, Abdul Moneim Nimr, 41, stood surrounded by his friends 
who raised a large flag and began dancing and singing.

"We used to celebrate the anniversary of the revolution in northern Syria and 
today we are celebrating in Umayyad Square. This is a blessed victory," he 
said.

- 'Justice, dignity and peace' -

Syria's conflict began with peaceful demonstrations on March 15, 2011, in 
which thousands protested against Assad's government, before it spiralled 
into civil war after his violent repression of the protests. 

This year's commemoration marks the first since Assad was toppled on December 
8 by Islamist-led rebels.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, who headed the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) 
which spearheaded the offensive, has since been named interim president.

Hundreds also gathered at the main square in the rebels' former stronghold of 
Idlib, an AFP journalist saw, raising the flags of Syria and HTS amid a heavy 
security presence and despite the Ramadan fast and relatively hot weather.

On Thursday, Sharaa signed into force a constitutional declaration regulating 
a five-year transition period before a permanent constitution is to be put 
into place.

Analysts have criticised the declaration, saying it grants too much power to 
Sharaa and fails to provide sufficient protection to the country's 
minorities.

It also came a week after Syria's Mediterranean coast, the heartland of 
Assad's Alawite minority, was gripped by the worst wave of violence since his 
overthrow.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, security 
forces and allied groups killed at least 1,500 civilians, mainly Alawites, in 
the violence that began on March 6.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Friday: 
"It is fourteen years since Syrians took to the streets in peaceful protest, 
demanding dignity, freedom and a better future."

He added in a statement that despite the brutal civil war, "the resilience of 
Syrians and their pursuit of justice, dignity and peace endure. And they now 
deserve a transition that is worthy of this."

He called for "an immediate end to all violence and for protection of 
civilians".

On the occasion of the anniversary, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council 
in northeast Syria reiterated its objection to the constitutional 
declaration, saying it "did not adequately reflect the aspirations of the 
Syrian people to build a just and democratic state".