IDLIB: Thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the war-ravaged country’s rebel-held northwest on Wednesday, marking 12 years since the start of pro-democracy protests and rejecting any international “normalisation” with Damascus.

The brutal repression of the 2011 protests, which began during the Middle East’s Arab Spring uprisings, triggered a complex civil war that drew in foreign powers and jihadists. It has claimed more than 500,000 lives and left millions displaced internally and abroad.

In Idlib city, demonstrators waved revolutionary flags and held banners reading: “The people demand the fall of the regime” and “Freedom and dignity for all Syrians”.

The Idlib area is the last major rebel bastion outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s Russian-backed forces.

“We have come to commemorate the anniversary of the revolution, this great memory in the heart of every free Syrian,” protester Abu Shahid, 27, said.

“We are proud of the day we managed to break the barrier of fear and demonstrate against the criminal regime.” The rebel-held areas of Syria’s north and northwest, controlled by Islamist groups and Turkish-backed fighters, are home to more than four million people, at least half of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country. Protests also took place in Tabqa, a Kurdish-held area of Raqa province in central Syria. On Wednesday in Moscow, Assad was meeting with his Russian counterpart and main ally, Vladimir Putin, whose military support from 2015 changed the course of the war.

That, and assistance from Iran, allowed Assad to win back much of the territory lost earlier. Analysts say Moscow wants to bridge the diplomatic divide between Syria and Turkiye, whose ties were cut soon after the war started.

Both Damascus and Ankara see a common “enemy” in Kurdish groups in northern Syria, which Ankara calls “terrorists” but are backed by Washington.

Experts say Damascus is also looking to break out of its international isolation following the devastating February 6 earthquake that killed almost 6,000 people across Syria.

Since the quake, several Arab leaders have made overtures to Assad’s government.

Demonstrators in Idlib staunchly opposed any moves to normalise Damascus’s relations with countries in the region.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2023