Especially Turkey... Sweida Witnesses Protest Against Foreign Presence
The continuation of weekly protest stands indicates a growing popular movement demanding radical changes in the structure of the political system away from the centralized policies that prevailed in p
April 20, 2025, 11:54 pm

Especially Turkey... Sweida Witnesses Protest Against Foreign Presence

السويداء \ مصدر الصورة: المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان

A number of youth and activists resumed their fifth weekly anti-authority stand in Karama Square in the center of Sweida city this Sunday morning. The protesters denounced the presence of foreign forces on Syrian territory, especially Turkey, considering their presence an occupation of Syrian lands.

Participants carried banners expressing their rejection and opposition to the new authority and the national flag, demanding radical changes in the political system.

In a notable development on April 18, dozens of Sweida residents, in a celebratory atmosphere, changed the name of "Tishreen Square" to "Martyr Khaldoun Zain al-Din Square," commemorating the memory of the commander of the Sultan Pasha al-Atrash Battalion of the Free Syrian Army. This initiative came after the approval of the city council.

According to local sources, Khaldoun Zain al-Din and his companions were martyred in the Dahr al-Jabal area in Sweida in early 2013 during confrontations with the forces of the former regime. His battalion had taken Daraa governorate as a center for its operations since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011.

These protest movements come in the context of growing popular demands to adopt a system of governance away from the centralized governance policies that were prevalent under the previous regime headed by Bashar al-Assad, which led to the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a limited group.

Analysts believe that the continuation of protests in Sweida reflects the aspirations of the local community towards active participation in decision-making and rejection of external interventions, especially Turkish, in Syrian affairs.

The renaming of public squares constitutes a symbolic step towards local communities reclaiming their right to self-determination and managing their affairs in accordance with their cultural and social specificity.

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has announced its sponsorship of the “Innovation and Sustainable Technology Solutions Competition (GU - IST Solutions), hosted by Gulf University at its main campus.
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