(Idlib) Thousands of Syrian anti-regime protesters, galvanized by public outcry over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, gathered in Idlib and other towns in northwestern Syria on Tuesday to mark the 11and anniversary of the beginning of the conflict which ravaged their country.
Posted at 4:09 p.m.
Triggered on March 15, 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations and initially opposing the army and the rebels, the war in Syria has become more complex over the years, with foreign interventions including that of Russia in support of Damascus, leaving a country ravaged and Split.
Gathered in the main square of Idlib, more than 5,000 people took part in one of the largest rallies in months in this last enclave resisting the regime of Bashar al-Assad despite years of deadly offensives supported by the Russia. Idlib currently has around four million inhabitants, at least half of whom are displaced.
“It’s been 11 years since the Syrian revolution began, but today is as if it were the first day,” said Salwa Abdelrahmane, in the crowd of demonstrators, some of whom were waving Ukrainian flags or placards with messages demanding intervention against the Russian president.
“We have forgotten our wounds, the forced displacements, the massacres and the arrests. We renewed our promise to continue our revolution,” added the 49-year-old protester, calling on Ukrainians to continue resisting.
“My message to the Ukrainian people is not to give up! »
“Same goal, same enemy”
Many demonstrators hope that the invasion launched in Ukraine on February 24 by Moscow, openly supported by Bashar al-Assad, will arouse new interest in their own cause.
What is happening today in Ukraine is identical to what is happening here, the enemy is the same and the goal is the same.
Radwane Atrach
Thousands of people also demonstrated in other localities in northwestern Syria, such as al-Bab, in the province of Aleppo.
Russia’s military intervention in favor of the regime in Damascus in 2015 changed the course of the war, dashing the hopes of millions of Syrians to overthrow the regime.
The conflict, involving rebels, jihadists, regional and international powers, has claimed half a million lives.
warfare tactics
“Fortify your hospitals with cement blocks, the enemy Putin does not distinguish between civilians, wounded and combatants”, recommends Ali Hamouch, doctor in a hospital in Idlib, in solidarity with the Ukrainians.
During the conflict in Syria, Russian aircraft repeatedly targeted hospitals, according to witnesses, doctors and NGOs.
In Ukraine last week, a children’s hospital was hit by a suspected Russian strike in the besieged city of Mariupol, prompting outcry and charges of war crimes against Vladimir Putin.
The war tactics adopted in Ukraine resemble those tried by Moscow in Syria, where the Russians have tested most of their weapons. In addition, Moscow is currently recruiting thousands of fighters in Syria, from the regular army and the militias, to deploy them in Ukraine.
As the conflict enters its 12and year, the secretary general of the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland, urged the international community not to forget Syria.
“While we witness with shock and horror what is happening in Ukraine, it reminds us of the intense suffering endured by the Syrian population, which is getting worse,” he said.
For their part, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom have denounced Moscow’s interventions in Syria and Ukraine.
“The anniversary (of the outbreak of the war in Syria) coincides this year with the terrible aggression of Russia against Ukraine […]highlighting the brutal and destructive nature of Russia’s actions in these two conflicts,” they said in a joint statement.
The five countries also said they “do not support the normalization efforts” undertaken by certain countries with Damascus, warning that they will not lift the sanctions without “irreversible progress towards a political solution” in Syria.
Syria is facing a serious economic crisis, marked by a depreciation of the national currency, an explosion of inflation and aggravated by Western sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria called last week to “evaluate the implementation and impact of the sanctions” imposed on the country, pointing to a deterioration in the living conditions of the population.