Liberation Day (Arabic: يوم التحرير) is a public holiday in Syria, celebrated on 8 December to mark the fall of the Assad regime, which began in 1971 when Hafez al-Assad seized power and was later succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad in 2000. The holiday was established in October 2025 following a decree by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Historical background
The Ba'athist regime emerged in 1963 following a coup d'état led by Alawite Ba'athist military officers. Another coup in 1966 brought Salah Jadid to de facto power, while Nureddin al-Atassi assumed the presidency. In 1970, Jadid and al-Atassi were overthrown by Hafez al-Assad during the Corrective Movement. The Assad family had ruled Syria since 1971, when Hafez al-Assad seized power and became the president of Syria under the Syrian Ba'ath Party. Under Hafez, Ba’athist Syria became a police state that suppressed any dissent. After his death in June 2000, he was succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad.
Bashar al-Assad was the president of Syria from 2000 until his overthrow on 8 December 2024. His presidency was marked by authoritarian rule and the suppression of political dissent. His government faced mounting criticism for corruption, human rights abuses, and the violent crackdown on the 2011 protests, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. The war involved numerous international actors, with countries like Russia and Iran supporting Assad's regime, while opposition groups received backing from Western and regional powers. The 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, codenamed "Deterrence of Aggression," were led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by allied Turkish-backed groups in the Syrian National Army. These offensives resulted in the rapid fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, ending five decades of Assad family rule. As a rebel coalition moved closer to Damascus, reports indicated that Bashar al-Assad had fled the capital by plane to Russia, where he joined his exiled family and was granted political asylum by the Russian government. After his departure, opposition forces announced their victory on state television. At the same time, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed his resignation and departure from Syria. Then-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became the de facto leader of Syria on 8 December as the General Commander and head of the New Syrian Administration, serving until 29 January 2025, when he was appointed President of Syria by the Syrian General Command. After the fall of the Assad regime, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, Assad's ninth prime minister, remained in office in a caretaker capacity with the support of the opposition and al-Sharaa until the formation of the caretaker government led by Mohammed al-Bashir. The position of prime minister was abolished on 29 March 2025, when the Syrian transitional government replaced the caretaker administration.
Observance In December 2024, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces declared 8 December of each year a national holiday in Syria. In January 2025, during the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference, Hassan Abdul Ghani, the spokesman for the rebels' Military Operations Command, announced that 8 December, the date of the fall of the Assad regime, would be declared a national holiday. In October 2025, President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a presidential decree officially designating the date of Assad's fall as an annual holiday called "Liberation Day." Workers covered by the provisions of the Basic Law for State Workers are entitled to a holiday with full pay. The General Secretariat of the Presidency issued a declaration declaring 7 and 8 December 2025 as public holidays for state institutions on the occasion of Liberation Day. The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria ordered the suspension of work in the public institutions under its authority on 8 December 2025.
Celebrations
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