‘Challenges were great after entering Damascus,’ Syrian President al-Sharaa says

By Lina Altawell

DAMASCUS / ISTANBUL (AA) - Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said the challenges were ‘significant’ after forces entered Damascus on Dec. 08, 2024, stressing that the immediate priority was to control weapons, unify armed factions, and safeguard the country’s territorial integrity.

“Challenges were great after entering Damascus,” al-Sharaa said during an open dialogue session at the Conference on the Unity of Islamic Discourse in Damascus, Syrian al-Ikhbariya TV posted the video on YouTube late Monday.

He said the first priority is “controlling the revolutionary street, particularly the revolutionary factions, and uniting them under one word,” moving toward controlling weapons and focusing on building a unified national army, “away from factional language.”

The president added that those efforts faced obstacles due to internal disputes, as well as divisions and ideological differences that developed over the past 14 years.

He said authorities are also working to reintegrate Syrian society and reconnect the country with its regional and international surroundings, calling that “very important.”

Al-Sharaa added that officials are confronting calls for partition and working to preserve “the unity of Syria and the unity of Syrian territory,” while enabling the state to regain access to its resources and creating conditions for the return of refugees to areas from which they were displaced, particularly in northeastern Syria.

“The service sector has been destroyed, the economy has been destroyed, the energy sector has been destroyed,” he said, adding that prices have risen and the currency has weakened.

“The Ministry of Defense alone cannot build the state, and the Ministry of Interior cannot build the state, and the minbar (pulpit in a mosque, but generally referring to Muslim clerics) alone cannot build the state,” he said. “Each institution has its function.”

Syrian security forces entered Damascus in late 2024 after SDF forces withdrew from key government institutions, marking a decisive shift in control of the capital.

On Jan. 18, the Syrian government and the SDF reached a comprehensive ceasefire and full integration agreement, outlining sweeping measures to restore state authority in the northeast.

Syrian security forces and administrative bodies have entered areas previously controlled by the SDF, including Hasakah, Qamishli and Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), as well as strategic facilities such as airports, oil fields, and border crossings.