2/27/2025 Syria (International Christian Concern) — Hundreds of delegates from around the country gathered in Damascus, Syria this week to take part in the first national-level political dialogue after the December ouster of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad. The gathering, designed to lay the groundwork for the country as it sets out to establish a new government, concluded with calls for an inclusive, rights-based order.
“We must use every moment to serve the interests of our people and our nation and honor the sacrifices of its children,” the newly appointed interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa told attendees. He has met with members of historically marginalized religious and ethnic groups during the last several months and has repeatedly promised to include them in his government moving forward.
Still, some critics point to a lackluster start to the new administration, which is predominantly made up of al-Sharaa’s loyalists. Of the seven-member preparatory committee that met preceding this week’s dialogue, five are seen as close loyalists. One member of the committee was, however, a Christian.
The gathering was announced with only two days’ notice, giving communities from around the country limited time to respond. Members of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group, were sidelined and not invited at all. Kurdish politicians criticized the slight, saying in a statement on Tuesday that the gathering would be “meaningless, worthless and ineffective and will not contribute to finding real solutions to the crisis that the country is suffering from.”
This week’s dialogue concluded with a series of nonbinding recommendations for al-Sharaa’s administration, including the expedition of a new constitution and the quick formation of an interim legislative council while the country prepares for elections — a process that al-Sharaa has warned is likely to take at least four years, given the country’s current state of disarray.
Central to this week’s exercise in Damascus was Syria’s desire to see international sanctions lifted. Originally imposed to pressure the al-Assad regime, many sanctions remain in place as the international community weighs whether the al-Sharaa administration intends to make good on its promises of respect for democratic norms and the rights of minorities.
On Monday, as participants gathered in Damascus for the dialogue, the European Union announced it would lift sanctions on Syria based on reports indicating that the rebel leaders now ruling Syria were respecting the various ethnic and religious minorities spread throughout the country.
“This decision,” the European Council explained in a press release, “is part of the EU’s efforts to support an inclusive political transition in Syria, and its swift economic recovery, reconstruction, and stabilisation [sic].”
Al-Sharaa is the longtime leader of a terrorist organization, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, that has at various times been affiliated with the Islamic State group (ISIS) and al-Qaida. Though it has operated independently in recent years, its avowedly jihadist background has given pause to observers even as the group claims to have narrow, nationalist goals rather than broader ones of religious conquest.
The Wall Street Journal, in a January article, reports that churches and bars are crowded in Christian areas of Damascus. With alcohol forbidden under strict Islamic teaching, the fact that public bars are thriving represents a culturally noticeable expression of religious freedom. Christians were similarly allowed to celebrate Christmas — something that would have been far more dangerous under the al-Assad regime.
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