Lebanon’s Mufti Derian Warns of The 'Revolt of The Hungry'

Grand Mufti Abdelatif Derian and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on their way to perform the Eid prayers in Beirut on Thursday (EPA).
Grand Mufti Abdelatif Derian and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on their way to perform the Eid prayers in Beirut on Thursday (EPA).
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Lebanon’s Mufti Derian Warns of The 'Revolt of The Hungry'

Grand Mufti Abdelatif Derian and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on their way to perform the Eid prayers in Beirut on Thursday (EPA).
Grand Mufti Abdelatif Derian and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on their way to perform the Eid prayers in Beirut on Thursday (EPA).

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdellatif Derian expressed his fear “of an explosion or social violence that would lead to the revolt of the hungry,” and launched a violent attack on Lebanese political officials, saying that they had “seriously failed the citizens.”

Mufti Derian, who led Eid-al-Fitr prayers on Thursday, said in his sermon that those working in public political affairs “have severely disappointed their citizens when they indulged in corruption and prevented the formation of a government capable of stopping the collapse.”

He continued: “These politicians are responsible for the corruption, which has become a more terrible epidemic than the coronavirus…They are preventing the functioning of constitutional institutions, hitting the judiciary, resorting to sectarian delusions and separating citizens.”

“These bad actions will not be forgotten by the Lebanese people,” the Grand Mufti said, adding: “We express our fear of an explosion or social violence, which will lead to the revolt of the hungry… Then, remorse will be useless.”

Regarding the government issue, Derian said that the internal and external initiatives to form a government of non-partisan specialists have failed due to “personal interests and selfishness.”

The Mufti said that obstacles were placed in a “systematic manner” to obstruct the mission of the prime minister-designate in forming a new government. He stressed that the country’s collapse would not stop “except with the birth of a government that addresses corruption and carry out the required reforms.”

“May God help the prime minister-designate in his arduous task and be with the caretaker prime minister, who bore what others failed to endure in such difficult circumstances,” he underlined.



Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish fighters in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.
Following Assad's departure, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG group must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria's future. The change in Syria's leadership has left the country's main Kurdish factions on the back foot.
"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament.
"We will eradicate the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings," he added.
Türkiye views the Kurdish YPG group- the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called on its NATO ally Washington and others to stop supporting the YPG.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense ministry said the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in northern Syria and Iraq.
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
Erdogan also said Türkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, and added Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year, as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin returning.