DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian civil society representatives held rare open discussions Saturday in Damascus in the presence of officials from the European Union and the transitional government. They touched on sensitive topics, including sectarian tensions, ethnic divisions and people killed by different sides.
The EU-organized meetings, known as the Day of Dialogue, are the first to be held in Damascus after those held in Brussels in recent years. Saturday's meetings came nearly a year after the Assad family's 54-year rule in Syria fell in a stunning offensive by rebel groups in early December.
The meetings, which previously took place as part of the Brussels conferences, were largely boycotted by the government of then-President Bashar al-Assad. The EU said Saturday's meetings were organized in cooperation with Syrian civil society and the Syrian transitional authorities.
“The meeting, which was previously held to discuss Syrian issues, is now being held in Syria,” Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said in his opening speech at the meeting, held at a conference center on the southern outskirts of Damascus.
Al-Shibani added that Saturday's meetings represent “a strong partnership with civil society and our partners in the European Union.”
Michael Ohnmacht, charge d'affaires of the EU delegation to Syria, said the meetings were attended by 500 people from Syria's various religious and ethnic groups and “this is something very positive.”
“That's what we hope for the future of Syria – to see this inclusive state that is a state in the form of all its citizens,” Ohnmacht said.
Despite changes in Syria over the past year, sectarian violence in the country's coastal region in March and in the southern Suwayda province in July between pro-government militants and members of the country's Druze and Alawite minorities has left hundreds of people dead.
Such violence shows that Syria continues to face serious crises in a 14-year conflict that has killed half a million people.
“Today’s dialogue is the beginning of change, and the reconstruction of Syria can only happen through a partnership based on respect between the state and civil society,” said Minister of Social Affairs Hind Kabawat.
During one session on transitional justice and the fate of the missing, Syrians demanded answers on unresolved issues such as the more than 130,000 people missing under Assad's rule, while an ethnic Kurd spoke of state discrimination they have faced for decades. Another spoke of violence against some women belonging to minority sects.
Mazen Darwish, a Syrian lawyer and one of the country's most prominent activists who was repeatedly jailed in Syria before going into exile years ago, said no one regrets the fall of the Assad family's rule, adding that it does not mean “Syria's future will be rosy and great.”
“Today we have an opportunity in Syria and we must take advantage of it,” Darwish said.
