Syria: President signs temporary constitution
establishing Sharia rule for five years
Not that al-Sharaa has the slightest intention of relinquishing power or establishing a secular state in five years’ time.
Syria’s interim president signs constitution enshrining Islamist rule for 5 years
by Ghaith Alsayed and Kareem Chehayeb, Associated Press, March 14, 2025:
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule while promising to protect the rights of all Syrians for five years during a transitional phase.
The nation’s interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of Syria since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning insurgency that overthrew longtime President Bashar Assad in December.
Former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now the country’s interim president — a decision that was announced after a meeting of the armed groups that took part in the offensive against Assad. At the same meeting, the groups agreed to repeal the country’s old constitution and said a new one would be drafted.
While many were happy to see an end to the Assad family’s dictatorial rule of more than 50 years in the war-torn country, religious and ethnic minorities have been skeptical of the new Islamist leaders and reluctant to allow Damascus under its new authorities to assert control of their areas.
Abdulhamid Al-Awak, one of the seven members of the committee al-Sharaa tasked to draft the temporary constitution, told a news conference Thursday that it would maintain some previsions from the previous one, including the stipulation that the head of state has to be a Muslim and Islamic law is the main source of jurisprudence.
But Al-Awak, a constitutional law expert who teaches at Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey, also said that the temporary constitution includes provisions that enshrine freedom of expression and the media….
Sure!
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Syria: Muslim cleric in mosque explains
methods of slaughtering Alawites
Imagine the international publicity that would ensue if a priest or a rabbi or a cleric of any other religion explained methods of killing those who did not believe, while sitting in a house of worship. But no one will take any particular notice of this. Now, why is that? Why has the establishment media decided that the image of Islam must be protected at all costs? Who is paying them?
Much to my Sorrow, by George, I have no idea!
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Erdogan's government arrests Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Turkish political crackdown
March 19 (UPI) -- Political opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was in Turkish police custody Wednesday after he was arrested days before being chosen as the presidential candidate for the Republican People's Party.
"I'm sorry to say, a handful of minds trying to usurp the will of our nation have used my beloved police officers, the security forces of this country, as instruments of evil, and have gathered hundreds of police officers at the door of my home, the home of 16 million Istanbulites," Imamoglu said.
"We are facing great bullying, but I want you to know that I will not give up. I love you all so much. I entrust myself to my nation. Let all my nation know that I will stand tall."
One of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most powerful political rivals, Imamoglu is accused by prosecutors of alleged corruption and aiding a terrorist group.
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His arrest came against a backdrop of a nationwide Turkish crackdown on political opposition figures.
Erdogan's government rounded up and detained 100 other alleged suspects including journalists, politicians and businessmen.
In other online and social media statements, Imamoglu said "the will of the people cannot be silenced" as he vowed to uphold democracy and justice worldwide by standing firm in a fight for fundamental rights and freedoms.
Erdogan has held political power for 22 years. and critics allege he is an authoritarian.
"The authoritarian and highly centralized presidential government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has set back Turkey's human rights record by decades, targeting perceived government critics and political opponents, profoundly undermining the independence of the judiciary, and hollowing out democratic institutions," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
Istanbul's prosecutor's office claimed in a statement that Imamoglu has allegedly aided the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK, through a political agreement with the pro-Kurdish People's Freedom and Democratic Party.
If the Kurdish People's Freedom and Democratic Party is a legal party, then how can working with them be illegal? This corruption is worthy of a third-world country.
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said Imamoglu allegedly helped the PKK, "by knowingly participating in the urban consensus activity, which aimed to increase the effectiveness of the terrorist organization in metropolitan areas, as stated by the management."
The urban consensus is a political agreement to join together to support the same candidate in several Istanbul municipal election districts.
The political crackdown follows big losses by Erdogan's party in last year's local elections, spearheaded by Imamoglu's opposition party Istanbul mayoral win.
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