On May 6, Syria celebrates a national holiday called Martyrs' Day (Eid al-Suhada, Arab). عيد الشهدا̆ (). A similar holiday is celebrated in another Middle Eastern state – Lebanon.
The establishment of this holiday and its assignment to the status of a national holiday is associated with the historical events of the early 20th century, when the national liberation movement for independence from the Ottoman Empire, which then included the Syrian Arab Republic, intensified in Syria.
In the spring of 1916, in the Lebanese city of Alei, by order of the governor of the Ottoman Empire in the region of Syria and Lebanon, Ahmed Cemal Pasha, a military trial was held, at which over 200 people who formed the basis of nationalist organizations that advocated the independence of Syria and Lebanon from the Ottoman Empire were brought before Turkish judges. Most of the leaders of the liberation movement arrested by the Turkish authorities were sentenced to life imprisonment or sentenced to long terms, and about a hundred people were sentenced to death.
On May 6, 1916, by order of the same Dzhemal Pasha, the court verdict against the six most prominent figures of the national liberation movement, sentenced to death by hanging, was carried out publicly in the squares of Beirut and Damascus.
In memory of the independence fighters, both squares (in Damascus in Syria and Beirut in Lebanon) were renamed Martyrs' Square after both countries achieved independence, and the date May 6 turned into a national holiday in memory of the heroes who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom and independence of the Motherland.
Traditionally, on May 6, the President of Syria lays flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Thousands of people gather on Martyrs' Square in support of the country's freedom and independence. In conditions of war with terrorist organizations, as well as military-political and economic pressure from the United States and a number of European countries, the celebration of Martyrs' Day in Syria takes on a special meaning and becomes a relevant event of today.