Syria’s Minorities Call for Decentralized State and Constitution Guaranteeing Pluralism

Syria’s Minorities Call for Decentralized State and Constitution Guaranteeing Pluralism
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Representatives from Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities convened in Hassakeh on August 8 to demand the establishment of a decentralized state and the drafting of a new constitution that guarantees religious, cultural, and ethnic pluralism, ABC News reported. The one-day conference brought together around 400 delegates from various minority communities amid Syria’s ongoing political transition following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

The transition process includes planned elections in September and the eventual drafting of a new constitution, which may take years. Minority groups expressed concern over recent violence targeting communities such as Alawites, Druze, and Christians, condemning these attacks as crimes against humanity.

Ghazal Ghazal, spiritual leader of the Alawite minority, criticized extremist ideologies imposing religious control and called for a federal system protecting all Syrians’ rights. The conference, held under the control of the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was described by Elham Ahmad, a senior official with the northeastern autonomous administration, as a message of civil peace and national reconciliation.

Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri emphasized that pluralism strengthens unity rather than threatening it. Meanwhile, SDF commander Sipan Hamo criticized the interim government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa for perpetuating dictatorship and expressed willingness to integrate into a democratic national army.

The interim government in Damascus has not responded to the conference. Violence against minorities since Assad’s fall has claimed hundreds of lives, raising fears about Syria’s future stability.