"One, one, one! The Syrian people are one!" Ever since anti-government protests began in Syria over a decade ago, this has been one of the most popular chants during demonstrations.

But at the same time, the popular refrain doesn't really reflect Syria's everyday reality. Before Syria's civil war began, about 68% of Syrians were Sunni Muslim Arabs. A further 9% to 13% are members of the Alawite ethnoreligious group and somewhere between 8% and 10% are of Kurdish ethnicity. Then there are also Druze, Christian, Armenian, Circassian, Turkmen, Palestinian and Yazidi locals.

While the Assad family were in charge, they exploited divisions between Syria's different groups to maintain control. But since the authoritarian regime was toppled in December, the European Union and others have insisted that for them to lift sanctions, all communities in Syria must be able to play a part in the new government.

Late last week, Syria's interim government released a first, temporary version of the country's new constitution. In this, constitutional experts pointed out, there is no mention of Syria's minorities. Locals also complained about a lack of representation at the recent National Dialogue event.

Additionally as the Karam Shaar Advisory, a consultancy specializing in the Syrian economy, pointed out, the caretaker government is still overwhelmingly linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group that led the offensive that ousted........

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