Qamishli watches keenly for signs of inclusiveness from Syria's new leadership

Once the capital of the Kurdish-led autonomous region in the north-east, the city is home to a cross-section of Syrian society

Toys and Christmas decorations are displayed for sale on a market street in Qamishli in north-eastern Syria on December 11. AFP

Live updates: Follow the latest on Syria

Minority groups are closely monitoring the new Syrian leadership for signs that it will deliver on its promise of a “Syria for all,” perhaps nowhere more so than in Qamishli.

The city, sitting on the border with Turkey in the north-eastern province of Hasakah, is a melting pot of ethnicities and religions, including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrians, Armenians and Yazidis.

The rebel groups who overthrew former president Bashar Al Assad in early December were led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a former affiliate of Al Qaeda, which is now steering the country’s transition from more than 50 years of autocratic rule by the Assad family.

The dominance of HTS has raised fears among minorities, fears that HTS commander Ahmad Al Shara, now Syria’s de facto leader, has sought to allay. He has repeatedly said that the interim government installed by his group is working to protect minorities, and stressed the importance of coexistence in the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country.

So far, that appears to have held true. The interim leadership was quick to condemn the burning of a Christmas tree by rebel fighters in a town in central Syria and promised to punish the perpetrators. On Thursday, the Ministry of Information issued an order banning the propagation of “any media content or news content of a sectarian nature that aims to spread division and discrimination among the components of the Syrian people”.

But Bachir Saadi, deputy leader of the Qamishli-based Assyrian Democratic Organisation, says little is known so far of the new leadership’s plans for minorities, including Assyrian Christians like himself.

International pressure and the involvement of “Syrian democratic parties” are needed “to form a credible, inclusive, and nonsectarian government that responds to international standards for human rights”, he told The National.

Sara, a Kurdish resident of Qamishli who requested a pseudonym for fear of retribution, told The National she hopes for the implementation of a fair constitution.

“We need our rights to be guaranteed by the constitution" regardless of one’s background, she said. “Not all Syrians are Arabs and Muslims. We have Kurds, we have Assyrians, we have Armenians, we have Yazidis. I'm from Qamishli, and I need Qamishli to be seen, to be heard. The people from this area must be heard.”

“The propaganda of the [former] Syrian regime was ‘Syria is a mosaic’,” she said. “But they have never worked on this mosaic. Now is a proper time to protect it.”

The toppling of Mr Al Assad, himself a member of Syria's Alawite minority, was widely celebrated in a country devastated by 13 years of civil war.

“We all thought the day would never come,” said Ramcina, a Syrian Assyrian who was born and raised in Hasakah. Like millions of other Syrians, she and her family fled abroad to escape the conflict. She requested the omission of her last name for fear of retribution.

Active with the Assyrian Democratic Organisation before she moved to Sweden during the war, she said the group often co-ordinated underground gatherings in support of the revolution.

“We would meet at night, paint our flags in secret, then go out for a demonstration on Friday morning.”

She said she had seen some signs for concern despite the promises of inclusivity from the new leadership, such as the interim prime minister’s recent televised appearance in front of an Islamic flag, which she described as "very worrying”.

“This is not what we joined for. This is not why we were against the regime. We wanted better life circumstances. We wanted a better future. We wanted our rights as minorities, as Assyrians, also as Christians.”