Reports | 2 12 2025
Various cities along the Syrian coast, as well as the rural areas of Hama and Homs, witnessed demonstrations on Tuesday, 25 November, calling for political decentralization, federalism, and the release of detainees, following recent violent events in Homs.
In Latakia, western Syria, protests took place at the Zra’a and Al-Azhari roundabouts, as well as in Jableh, Masyaf, and other coastal cities. Some Facebook pages reported that protesters were shot at in Jableh and at the Al-Azhari roundabout in Latakia; Rozana was unable to verify these reports through independent sources.
Rozana’s correspondent in Latakia said that public security attempted to secure the demonstrations in the city and prevent clashes with other pro-transitional government protesters. He added that tensions gradually escalated, with sectarian chants emerging from both sides, such as “Ya Ali” from one side and “Ya Muhammad” from the other.
The correspondent also reported that stones were thrown during the protests, while activists from the city, together with internal security forces, tried to calm the situation and prevent it from deteriorating further. This prompted public security forces to fire shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the clash between the two demonstrations and end the sit-in.
In Tartous, security forces were heavily deployed alongside the protests, according to SANA, aiming to protect citizens and public facilities.
Protesters gathered at various demonstration points, raising banners demanding the release of detainees since the fall of the previous Syrian regime, advocating for decentralization and federalism, calling for the disarmament of local militias, and rejecting sectarianism, according to Rozana’s correspondent in Latakia.
These demonstrations came in response to a call issued by Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, head of the “Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad,” on Monday evening, 24 November, via a recorded statement, following events in Homs after the killing of a man and his wife in the village of Zaydal.
Ghazal stated that “Syria has become a field for settling sectarian scores.”
In his statement, he called for the adoption of political decentralization or federalism, an end to ethnic cleansing, abductions, and killings, and the release of detainees.
He added that the Alawite community “has never placed sectarian affiliation above all else and has never objected to any Syrian group taking power, believing in the legitimacy of the state.”
Ghazal also said that members of the community had surrendered their weapons to the state “trusting that it represents everyone,” considering that “the disappointment they faced was greater than the weapons they gave up,” and that the Alawites found themselves “under the rule of a de facto terrorist, exclusionary, and extremist authority,” in his words.
Sheikh Ghazal stressed that “there is no existential war between the Alawite and Sunni communities,” urging that disputes should not be turned into existential conflicts, and noting that “Syria will not become a swamp for ISIS.”
He concluded his statement by calling on all Syrians of different sects to participate in peaceful sit-ins “to stop the killing machine and confront all forms of terrorism.”
The transitional Syrian government has not commented on these demonstrations, which included some disturbances in Latakia, according to Rozana’s correspondent and reports circulating on social media, except for SANA’s mention of Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba meeting with protesters in the Al-Zahra neighborhood of Homs and listening to their demands.