TUNIS, December 13. /TASS/. The issue of any foreign military presence in Syria should be subject to a public referendum, Mohammed Sabra, former head of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC), told TASS.
"Any non-Syrian military presence on Syrian soil must be approved by the Syrian people through a public referendum conducted after the transitional phase is completed," Sabra responded to a question about the future of Russian military bases in Syria. "This would occur only after achieving security and political stability in Syria, completing the political transition process, and establishing the political system that Syrians aspire to build," he said.
Mohammed Sabra formerly led the High Negotiations Committee, created by the Syrian opposition in late 2015, and represented the body in the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.
On December 9, the agency's source said that the armed opposition was in full control of the Syrian province of Latakia, where Russian military bases are located. According to the source, Syrian armed formations entered the provinces of Tartus and Jebla when the opposition announced the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad. They did not invade the Russian military bases in Tartus and Hmeymim, the source specified.
Russia operates two military facilities in Syria - the Tartus naval logistics base and the Hmeymim air base located 20 km southeast of Latakia. The Soviet base in Tartus was established in 1971 under a bilateral agreement. Russia set up its air task force in Syria on September 30, 2015 to provide support to the Syrian army in fighting the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia).
On December 12, Russian presidential envoy for the Middle East and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters that "the bases are still there, where they were on Syrian territory," and that "no other decisions have been made for the moment."
Situation in Syria
In late November, Syria’s armed opposition launched a large-scale offensive against government forces. On December 8, they entered Damascus, while the army withdrew from the Syrian capital. Syria's President Bashar Assad resigned and left the country, issuing directives for the peaceful transfer of authority. On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib Province since January 2024, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government until March 1, 2025.