Syria's Al Shara calls for national unity following protests

Thousands of Alawites took to the streets earlier this week to demand protection

Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara said 'national unity is a fundamental pillar and indispensable'. Reuters

Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara has warned against federalism and called on the country’s different factions to unite, nearly a year after the overthrow of the regime of Bashar Al Assad.

“National unity is a fundamental pillar and indispensable,” Mr Al Shara said on Thursday in a phone call with the governor of the coastal province of Latakia, the scene of several episodes of sectarian violence this year.

“The time has now come to put an end to divisions sown in the minds of Syrians for over 60 years,” he said.

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For more than 50 years, Syria was ruled by the Assad family, who come from the Alawite minority group. Some Alawites prospered under the rule of the Assads.

Since the fall of the Assads, there have been incidents of anti-Alawite violence, the worst of which involved the killing of more than 1,700 people in coastal Syria in March.

Since taking power, Mr Al Shara has tried to reassure the international community that he would protect the rights of the country's many minorities.

His comments came as thousands took to the streets this week to condemn violence against Alawites and demand protection. Mr Al Shara said the protesters had “legitimate demands”, reported state news agency Sana.

The demonstrations in several cities along Syria's coast − the heartland of the country's Alawites −were the largest by the community since the overthrow of the Assad regime.

Mr Al Shara told the Latakia governor that “we have observed that there are many legitimate popular demands, although some are politically motivated, to put it politely”, according to Sana.

During the call Mr Al Shara spoke about the importance of the Syrian coast, citing its role in international trade and regional economic integration.

He said the region’s social and sectarian diversity strengthens national unity, dismissing proposals for federalism or separatism as based on narrow political perspectives.

“The Syrian geography is interconnected; no region can claim autonomous authority separate from the rest of the country,” said Mr Al Shara, noting that economic and social integration demonstrates the futility of calls for division.

This week's protests followed the fresh outbreak of unrest in the religiously diverse city of Homs, in central Syria. It was triggered by the murder of a Sunni Bedouin couple that was blamed on Alawites, after sectarian graffiti was found at the scene.