Unprecedented Syria protests as Alawites call for protection and federalism
Shafaq News – Damascus
Thousands of members of Syria’s Alawite community protested on Tuesday in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous, as well as in Hama and Homs, following calls issued by several religious figures from within the community.
Some demonstrators carried banners demanding federalism, decentralization, and an end to killings. Participants also raised signs calling for the release of what they described as Alawite detainees.
Clashes broke out between government supporters and protesters, and live fire was reported in the city of Jableh. In Homs, local sources said security forces detained several demonstrators.
Earlier, the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora accused the Syrian government of “exclusionary” policies following the deadly incident in Homs that heightened sectarian tensions, calling for “federalism and political decentralization to guarantee our rights and yours.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said state security fired live rounds indiscriminately near several protest sites and used government vehicles to ram groups of demonstrators.
Meanwhile, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba urged the public not to follow what he called “foreign calls aimed at sowing discord and damaging social cohesion.” He said the state is responsible for safeguarding the right to assembly and expression for all Syrians and remains “equidistant from all components.”
Shafaq News correspondent reported internal divisions among demonstrators over chants demanding the release of figures such as Wasim al-Assad, a prominent figure during the previous era of the Syrian government and accused of narcotics trafficking, along with others implicated in abuses in former state-run detention facilities.
Syrian security sources told Shafaq News that some of the mobilization followed appeals launched by individuals linked to the former government who now reside abroad, including Kamal al-Hassan, whom the sources accused of seeking to promote the idea of establishing an “Alawite region.”
