Across Europe, Syrians hold joyful rallies to celebrate fall of Assad

BERLIN: Thousands of jubilant Syrians rallied in Berlin and cities across Europe on Sunday, waving flags and singing with joy to celebrate the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Finally we are free!” exclaimed a smiling Bassam Al-Hamada, 39, among 5,000 people at an exuberant rally in the capital of Germany, the country home to the largest Syrian community in Europe.

Many waved the flag of the Syrian opposition and signs that read “Free Syria” and “Freedom”. Others flashed the “V” for victory sign, sang and shouted “Allahu Akbar!”

Many came with their families, braving a cold drizzle. Children´s faces were painted in the Syrian national colours at the packed square in Berlin´s Kreuzberg district, where chants mingled with the honking horns of passing cars.

Germany is home to more than a million Syrians, the largest diaspora in the European Union, most of them asylum seekers who fled the civil war raging since 2011.

Many live in Berlin´s working-class district of Neukoelln, where a spontaneous outpouring of relief began early on Sunday -- a day that also saw Syrian community rallies in Athens, London, Vienna and other cities.

Hundreds celebrated in joyous scenes outside the Fatih Mosque in central Istanbul, one of the focal points for their 500,000-strong Syrian community in the Turkish city.

“We´re happy. The dictatorship is over. Assad has gone,” said 39-year-old Berlin resident Ahmed, who preferred not to give his last name.

“All Syrians are together now,” said the railway technician, who fled the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in 2015.

Also joining the happy crowd in Berlin was Ahmad al-Hallabi, 27, a mechanic, also from Aleppo, who fled via Turkey and Greece to Germany in 2015, the peak of the migrant influx to the EU.

“Ten years ago, I was in Syria and saw things no-one should have to see, things that are impossible to wipe from your memory,” he said.

“Assad is the worst terrorist imaginable ... I hope there´ll be peace and everything Assad and his men destroyed will be rebuilt.”

Many at the rally expressed cautious hope they would soon be able to return to their war-battered home country.

“Like many Syrians, I would like to return to my country to help rebuild it,” said Bassam Al-Hamada, a social worker who arrived in Germany in early 2016.

His compatriot Sabreen, 36, an architect, said she planned for the moment to “help from Germany”.

“They mainly need expertise and money. All of that, we can gather here for the moment,” added the young woman.

Like many of the protesters in Berlin, Sabreen called for Assad to be held accountable for killing and torturing his own people. “He must be tried in the international court in The Hague,” she said.

Hundreds of ecstatic Syrians celebrated the fall of Assad on London´s Trafalgar Square, hugging each other and chanting “Mabrouk!” (Congratulations!).

Syrians greeted each other, many with the opposition flag draped over their shoulders, and singing: “Syria is ours, not the Assad family´s”.

Several hundred Syrians also rallied outside parliament in central Athens. “Allah, Syria, freedom!” and “together, together, together,” they chanted in a jubilant atmosphere.