section_path: Aftermath/Alleged attempt to establish an Alawite state
section_name: Alleged attempt to establish an Alawite state
paragraph_text: Alleged attempt to establish an Alawite state
  
  The December 2024 Syrian rebel offensives and the subsequent fall of the Assad regime sparked renewed speculation by some analysts about a potential revival of an Alawite state with Russian backing. For a brief period following the rebel takeover of Damascus, Latakia Governorate and Tartous Governorate (the historical territory of the Alawite State), were the only parts of Syria not under rebel control. Some Alawite villages there formed self-defence committees and set up checkpoints, but no expected Assadist national redoubt in the region came to fruition, partly because of the mixed attitudes of the Alawite population towards the HTS -led rebels.
  
  According to the UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Assad sought to establish an Alawite state on the Syrian coast as a fallback plan. This proposed coastal statelet was reportedly intended to serve as a stronghold for his regime in the event of losing control over the rest of the country.
  
  Russia, a key ally of Assad, allegedly rejected this plan, viewing it as an attempt to divide Syria. The SOHR claims that Assad subsequently fled to Russia on his plane after facing opposition to the proposal.