Paragliders and roaring chants in Damascus mark one year since Assad regime's collapse

Thousands of people flooded the streets of Damascus early on Monday to celebrate the first anniversary of the fall of the former Assad regime.

Umayyad Square was packed with families, children and young people waving the new Syrian flag and repeating revolutionary chants amid a heavy security presence. Over the cheering crowd, as speakers blasted the famed “rise your head, you’re the free Syria” song, a dozen paragliders paraded in the skies, their parachutes adorned with Syrian flags.

Across the country, hundreds of thousands are expected to take part in the commemorations. The morning began with a military parade from Mazzeh to Umayyad Square in Damascus, featuring helicopters, drones and heavy armour.

“I’m here today because we are Syrians. My life has completely changed since last year, it’s like life and death,” engineer Faysal Younes, 47, told The National. “It would have been impossible at the time of Al Assad, impossible to see such joy on people’s faces. We all wanted to leave Syria because Assad made it impossible to build a life here. But now we want to stay and start anew."

The toppling of the Assad regime a year ago caused a major geopolitical transformation. Syrians who went to sleep on December 7, 2024, woke up in a different country. Seemingly overnight, five decades of Assad family rule collapsed.

“A year ago, we would never have done this interview.