Thousands of residents of Syria’s Hasakah province rallied after Friday prayers to demand state authority across the province and the release of detainees and people forcibly disappeared in prisons run by the dissolved Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In scenes described as the “greatest celebration” and the “Hasakah flood,” protesters gathered in Freedom Square in the city center under the slogan “Friday of the Syrian Flag.”
They called for state sovereignty and a stronger presence for its institutions, a day after the national flag was raised on the square’s tallest flagpole before a large gathering of residents and officials.
The protests capped a week of rapid developments in Hasakah over the implementation of a Jan. 29, 2026, agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF.
The deal called for the former Kurdish Autonomous Administration’s civilian, security and military institutions to be integrated into state structures.
Arabs, who make up the province’s population majority, have complained that the SDF remains dominant despite its announced dissolution in late August.
Residents began arriving early in the morning from Hasakah’s al-Aziziya, al-Kallasa and al-Nashwa neighborhoods and from other towns, including al-Shaddadi, Markada, al-Hol and al-Arisha.
They gathered outside Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in Ghweiran before marching after Friday prayers to the city’s main square, known as Liberation Square, carrying Syrian national flags.
Government internal security forces reinforced their presence across the city from midnight Thursday to protect protesters, residents and public and private property. The deployment followed indiscriminate gunfire by “outlaw” gunmen in several neighborhoods.
Activists accused a Kurdish group referred to as “Revolutionary Popular” of stirring tensions to impose a curfew and block the demonstrations. Internal security forces restored calm that night, Syria’s Al-Ikhbariya television channel reported.
Protesters carried national flags, photographs of SDF detainees and pictures of “martyrs of the Syrian revolution.”
They chanted, “One, one ... the Syrian people are one,” seeking to reassure the province’s Arab, Kurdish and Christian communities that all were subject to the law and equal in rights and duties.
Their demands included extending state sovereignty and authority across Hasakah, restoring state institutions and making them operational, releasing detainees forcibly disappeared in SDF prisons, and allowing their sons to join the internal security forces. They also called for an end to the province’s dual authorities and the presence of Revolutionary Youth.
Videos posted on social media showed protesters removing Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and SDF flags and banners from streets and buildings.
Sohaib al-Yaarubi, an activist from the province’s Arab tribes and one of those who called for the protests, said the message was clear: the overwhelming majority in Hasakah supported the Syrian state, wanted its sovereignty extended across the province and wanted only the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic flown there.
Yaarubi told Asharq Al-Awsat the demonstrations were “successful” and the demands “patriotic and legitimate.” He said there were no tensions or provocations apart from one incident involving Revolutionary Youth members, which protesters defused.
Ibrahim al-Halabi, another activist from the province’s Arab tribes, described the crowds in Liberation Square as “awe-inspiring, beautiful and truly wonderful.” The peaceful demonstrations lasted about two hours.
He said the raising of the national flag brought overwhelming joy, stirring emotions that recalled the early days of the Syrian revolution against the former government in 2011.
“Some described the demonstrations and the crowds in Liberation Square as the greatest celebration in Hasakah, a city denied the chance to celebrate the victory achieved when the ousted government fell nearly two years ago,” Halabi said.
Delegations from other provinces, including Deir Ezzor, joined the Hasakah protests.
Similar demonstrations took place in several provinces in support of its residents’ demands.
The Friday rallies followed Thursday’s raising of the national flag on the tallest flagpole in central Hasakah before a large gathering of residents and officials. Government officials also inspected the courthouse to “create suitable conditions for making the judicial system operational.”
Internal security forces had deployed around the courthouse after members of the dissolved SDF vacated their positions there, while the government strengthened its security presence across the city.
On Tuesday, the SDF’s counterterrorism forces had handed over their positions to internal security forces.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Qader Tahhan, head of Syria’s General Intelligence Service, and Brig. Gen. Abdul Rahman al-Dabbagh, head of foreign intelligence, subsequently arrived in Hasakah with a large security delegation.
The developments followed mass peaceful protests after prayers the previous Friday in several towns and cities across Hasakah province, demanding state authority and a stronger presence for its institutions throughout the province.
