In a rousing address from war-scarred Aleppo, Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa declared the country’s reconstruction has “just begun.”
Speaking at the “Aleppo, Key to Victory” event, Sharaa urged national unity as Syria emerges from 14 years of brutal civil war.
The gathering in Aleppo, the first major city seized during the Islamist-led uprising that ousted Bashar al-Assad in December, marked a symbolic milestone.
Images of fallen fighters were displayed before Sharaa’s speech, setting a solemn yet hopeful tone for the evening.
“O great Syrian people, the battle of construction has just begun,” Sharaa proclaimed, drawing cheers from the assembled crowd.
He called on citizens to seek strength in faith and purpose to “create a bright future for a venerable country and a deserving people.”
The conflict claimed over half a million lives and devastated infrastructure, leaving millions displaced and cities reduced to rubble.
Recent lifting of Western sanctions on Assad-era officials has opened new pathways for investment and international cooperation.
“Let us seize the available opportunity and take on this duty,” Sharaa said, invoking a sense of national responsibility.
Reiterating a familiar wartime slogan, he declared, “We do not rest and we do not relax until we rebuild Syria anew.”
Sharaa’s speech signals a pivotal turn from survival to recovery, as Syrians look to restore a nation long fractured by war.