'A Great Relief To The Syrians'
- 10.12.2024, 13:56
How the world reacts to the fall of the Assad regime.
Syrian opposition activists said the country was “liberated” after they stormed Damascus and announced that dictator Bashar al-Assad had fled the capital in an unknown direction. The stunning progress of the opposition seems to have put an end to more than half a century of rule by the Assad family, writes the website Detali.
The United Nations
Mr Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, said “what's important is that we can find a situation where there is a political way out of this.”
According to him, "this political path should be very different from what it was before, it should be a process that includes everyone, and where we really focus on the need for unity, stability, where Syria can restore its sovereignty and its territory. There are many wounds that need to be healed.”
China
Beijing is “closely monitoring the situation in Syria and hopes that Syria will return to stability as soon as possible,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The report also indicates that the country's embassy in Damascus continues to provide assistance to Chinese citizens seeking to leave Syria for security reasons.
Germany, Italy
Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock called Assad's fall a “great relief” for Syrians.
“The end of Assad has been a great relief for millions of people in Syria,” she said, adding that “the country must not now fall into the hands of other radicals, whatever form they take.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, on the contrary, wrote on X that he was "with concern" following the development of the situation in Syria.
“I am in constant contact with our embassy in Damascus and with the Prime Minister's office. I called an emergency meeting,” he added.
Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that the Syrian government has “collapsed and control of the country is changing hands.”
Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Fidan said that “it didn't happen overnight. For the past 13 years, the country has been in a state of chaos” since the war began with Assad's suppression of democratic protests in 2011.
“Terrorist organizations should not be able to take advantage of this situation. Opposition groups must unite. We will work on stability and security in Syria,” he added. “The new Syria should not pose a threat to its neighbors, it should eliminate the threats.”
United Arab Emirates
Mr Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said non-state actors should not be allowed to exploit the political vacuum.
“The unfolding events in Syria are also a clear sign of political failure and the destructive nature of the conflict and chaos,” Gargash said at the Manama Dialogue security forum in the Bahraini capital.
United States
“President [Joe] Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and are in constant communication with regional partners,” the White House said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in a statement posted on the Truth Social platform, President-elect Donald Trump said Assad had “left his country” after losing Russian support.
“Assad is gone. He fled his country. His patron, Russia, Russia, Russia led by Vladimir Putin, is no longer interested in his protection.
“Russia initially had no reason to be there. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where about 600,000 Russian soldiers were wounded or killed, in a war that should never have started and could have gone on forever.”
Yemen
Mr Muammar al-Eriani, the information minister of Yemen's internationally recognized government, said on Platform X: “The Yemenis, with their wisdom and resilience, are capable of thwarting Iran's and its Houthi instrument's plans to invade their land and interfere in their destiny, just as those plans failed in Syria and Lebanon.”