The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) said in a statement that the recent violence across the country “does not serve Syria’s interests or its future.”
In a statement released on Thursday, DAANES reaffirmed "the urgent need to protect Syria's diversity and multiplicity, and to safeguard its symbols, customs, and traditions.”
“Protecting the rights and duties of all affiliations, communities, and groups is a national responsibility,” it added.
The Rojava administration stressed that preserving the “diversity and national richness is fundamental to building a strong and united Syria.”
This comes a day after thousands took to the streets across several Syrian cities after a video circulated online purportedly showing an attack on Abu Abdullah al-Hussein bin Hamdan al-Khasibi shrine in Aleppo province.
Syrian security forces imposed a curfew in Homs, the coastal city of Baniyas, Latakia, Tartous, and Jableh in response to demonstrations in the Alawite-majority areas.
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was recently ousted, hails from an Alawite family.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that at least one person was killed, and five others were injured during demonstrations in Homs, where reports of gunfire were also documented.
“We also emphasize that the continuation of misguided approaches in dealing with any Syrian community by any force or entity will have negative consequences. Such actions will not promote stability in Syria; rather, they will lead to conflicts and clashes that we believe threaten Syria's unity,” DAANES said in its statement.
Syria’s new administration, under Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), reacted to the alleged attack on a shrine in Aleppo province, stating that the video being circulated is old.
It claimed that the video was republished “to stir up strife among the Syrian people.”
Alawites, commonly believed to be an offshoot of Shiite Islam, hold distinctive beliefs, including the divine nature of Ali ibn Abi Talib, which sets them apart from mainstream Shiite and Sunni Muslims, who regard him as a caliph.