Damascus, Jan.18 (SANA) Minister of Information Hamza al-Mustafa reiterated that Syria’s unity is a firm and irreversible principle, underscoring that the Syrian state is entering a new phase founded on “equal citizenship” among all components in terms of rights and duties.
In an interview with the BBC on Saturday, al-Mustafa noted that the recent military developments in the eastern countryside of Aleppo came in response to escalatory actions by the SDF organization and the terrorist PKK organization, as well as their breach of the April 1, 2025 agreement.
Al-Mustafa pointed out that the military measures aimed to halt attacks carried out by the two groups, which resulted in the killing of 52 Syrians and the destruction of civilian facilities, including hospitals and schools. He confirmed that the latest agreement in Aleppo ensured the withdrawal of all armed elements from the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhoods and their handover to a civilian administration affiliated with Aleppo Governorate, in order to guarantee the safe return of displaced residents.
The Minister added that the Syrian government remains committed to the March 10, 2025 agreement, which sets out mechanisms for integrating SDF elements into the state’s military and civilian institutions, despite what he described as the group’s policy of procrastination. He characterised calls for “separation and federalism” as a “passing trend” driven by temporary circumstances, noting that such notions lack grounding in the political literature of Syria’s social components.
Regarding the situation in Sweida Governorate, al-Mustafa reiterated that Sweida is an inseparable part of Syria and that its people constitute a fundamental pillar of Syrian national identity. He stressed that all solutions that preserve Syria’s unity are welcome, while the government is not concerned with responding to what he described as “separatist demands.”
On another issue, the Minister said: “We reject accusations of sectarian discourse in the official media. State media outlets contain no hate speech, and we are working on a code of conduct to combat such phenomena. Our statistics indicate that 60 percent of sectarian discourse originates from outside Syria.”
Al-Mustafa noted that media freedom in Syria currently exceeds that of neighbouring countries, explaining that the Ministry of Information has licensed more than 500 media outlets and received over 3,000 foreign media delegations in 2025. He also pointed to a shift toward consolidating the concept of “public media” as an alternative to traditional state media, by providing unprecedented space for opposition voices to express their views through official platforms.
Concerning negotiations with the Israeli side, al-Mustafa indicated that the issue of the occupied Syrian Golan is not currently under discussion. He noted that ongoing talks are limited to a narrow framework related to the implementation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, or the possibility of reaching a similar security arrangement that would ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all areas occupied after December 8, 2024.
