Syrians mark revolution anniversary with roses, songs and tight security

People in Damascus, the capital of Syria, have reacted with joy as they openly commemorated the revolution’s tenth anniversary for the first time in 14 years following Bashar al-Assad’s ouster late last year.

In the midst of tight security measures, on Saturday, civilians were spotted waving the Syrian flag and singing revolutionary songs.

According to Resul Serdar, a journalist from Damascus, “people believe these roses represent peace.” Consider that helicopters have been launching barrel bombs at people for 14 years, and that they are now symbolically throwing roses at people in this country to promote peace and reconciliation.

As a result of the Arab Spring’s arrival in Syria, protesters demanded democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners on March 15, 2011, in Deraa, Damascus, and Aleppo. A group of teenage boys were detained and tortured a few days prior in Deraa, in the southwest of the country, after al-Assad was demonized for their actions.

The government then launched a vicious crackdown and repression. The Free Syrian Army, an opposition group that wanted to overthrow the government, was formed in July 2011 and turned the uprising into a bloody civil war, according to military defectors. Following a lightning-heavy offensive by opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the regime was forced to give up.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the country’s interim Syrian president, is now in charge of holding elections in five years while battling sectarian hostility, Israeli bombing, land grabs, and an economic crisis.

According to the state news agency SANA, an explosion in the coastal city of Latakia on Saturday caused the deaths of at least three people and injured 12 people. Later, a resident’s attempt to disassemble unexploded weapons in a building was later identified as an accident, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.