Protests Continue in Syria's Sweida as US Congressman Reportedly Contacts Druze Leader

Protesters chant slogans during a protest in the Druze-majority city of Sweida, southwestern Syria, 15 September 2023. (EPA)
Protesters chant slogans during a protest in the Druze-majority city of Sweida, southwestern Syria, 15 September 2023. (EPA)
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Protests Continue in Syria's Sweida as US Congressman Reportedly Contacts Druze Leader

Protesters chant slogans during a protest in the Druze-majority city of Sweida, southwestern Syria, 15 September 2023. (EPA)
Protesters chant slogans during a protest in the Druze-majority city of Sweida, southwestern Syria, 15 September 2023. (EPA)

The anti-regime protests have continued in Syria’s Sweida amid reports that an American congressman contacted spiritual head of the country's Druze community to discuss the rallies.

News spread on social media on Saturday that Congressman French Hill had contacted Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri. They spoke by telephone for over half an hour.

Hill reportedly inquired about "what was really happening in Sweida" and the overall situation in the southern province in wake of news that the protesters in front of the Baath party branch in Sweida city were fired at.

Syrian opposition figure Maher Sharafeddine said Hill expressed his pride in contacting Hajri, hoping to develop relations further with him.

Hill did not disclose information about his reported talks with Hajri and the latter did not issue any statement to confirm them either.

Three people were wounded on Wednesday when bullets were sprayed at anti-government protesters in Sweida, activists and local journalists said, in the first reported use of violence in weeks-long demonstrations there.

Activists, who have been taking to the streets to call for President Bashar al-Assad to step down over worsening living conditions, accused members of the ruling Baath party of firing.

Hajri has been the target of a fierce campaign by regime and Iran loyalists after he accused Iran of "occupying" Syria and calling for "jihad" against it.

In an open letter to Hajri, MP Khaled Abboud said that should the reports about his and Hill’s talks be true, then "it is evident who is behind the protest movement" and "this puts us in confrontation with it."

On Friday, the US embassy in Damascus said Washington was concerned over reports that the Syrian regime was quelling the Sweida rallies.

Washington supports the right of the Syrian people for peaceful protests in their pursuit of a dignified life, freedom, security and justice.

It added that the political solution, based on United Nations Security Council 2254, was the sole way to resolve the conflict in Syria.

Conflict erupted in Syria in 2011 with rallies against Assad in the country's south and quickly morphed into an all-out war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced millions.

Assad recaptured most of the country with help from his allies Russia and Iran. Even with frontlines calmer, the country's economy remains in tatters and its humanitarian needs have skyrocketed.

Still, open criticism of the government was extremely rare in Assad-held areas until the government's decision to lift fuel subsidies last month, prompted fresh protests concentrated in Sweida.

Hajri, on Wednesday blamed "corrupt" security forces for the incident, which he said would not deter protests.

"The main thing is restraint, and we won't give up on our peaceful demands. The street is with us. ... (We will stay) a day or two or a month or years," Hajri said.



Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye is training and advising Syria's armed forces and helping improve its defenses, and has no immediate plans for the withdrawal or relocation of its troops stationed there, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters.

Türkiye has emerged as a key foreign ally of Syria's new government since opposition groups - some of them backed for years by Ankara - ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December to end his family's five-decade rule.

It has promised to help rebuild neighboring Syria and facilitate the return of millions of Syrian civil war refugees, and played a key role last month getting US and European sanctions on Syria lifted.

The newfound Turkish influence in Damascus has raised Israeli concerns and risked a standoff or worse in Syria between the regional powers.

In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler said Türkiye and Israel, which carried out its latest airstrikes on southern Syria late on Tuesday, are continuing de-confliction talks to avoid military accidents in the country.

Türkiye’s overall priority in Syria is preserving its territorial integrity and unity, and ridding it of terrorism, he said, adding Ankara was supporting Damascus in these efforts.

"We have started providing military training and consultancy services, while taking steps to increase Syria's defense capacity," Guler said, without elaborating on those steps.

Named to the post by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan two years ago, Guler said it was too early to discuss possible withdrawal or relocation of the more than 20,000 Turkish troops in Syria.

Ankara controlled swathes of northern Syria and established dozens of bases there after several cross-border operations in recent years against Kurdish militants it deems terrorists.

This can "only be re-evaluated when Syria achieves peace and stability, when the threat of terrorism in the region is fully removed, when our border security is fully ensured, and when the honorable return of people who had to flee is done," he said.

NATO member Türkiye has accused Israel of undermining Syrian peace and rebuilding with its military operations there in recent months and, since late 2023, has also fiercely criticized Israel's assault on Gaza.

But the two regional powers have been quietly working to establish a de-confliction mechanism in Syria.

Guler described the talks as "technical level meetings to establish a de-confliction mechanism to prevent unwanted events" or direct conflict, as well as "a communication and coordination structure".

"Our efforts to form this line and make it fully operational continue. Yet it should not be forgotten that the de-confliction mechanism is not a normalization," he told Reuters.