Syrian president seen scrolling videos during Erdoğan’s UN speech VIDEO

A video appearing to show Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa scrolling through videos on social media during a speech by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the UN General Assembly has gone viral on social media.

Al-Sharaa is in New York for the UN General Assembly, where diplomacy and reconstruction efforts in Syria are among the issues on his agenda, Caliber.Az reports, citing NDTV.

Before taking the stage himself, however, footage from inside the General Assembly hall appeared to show him scrolling through short videos on his phone while Erdoğan was addressing world leaders.

Some reports claimed that al-Sharaa was sharing reels, but the footage itself does not establish whether he was watching videos, messaging someone or carrying out another activity on his phone.

The footage prompted a range of reactions on X, with some users describing the moment as relatable.

The incident came shortly before al-Sharaa was due to address the General Assembly.

Hours after the footage spread online, the Syrian president spoke to reporters in New York about some of the key diplomatic issues facing the Middle East.

He said an Israeli withdrawal from a self-declared security zone in Syrian territory would be a necessary first step towards talks between the two countries, while indicating that “lasting peace” was achievable.

“The Golan Heights is Syrian territory under recognition of the United Nations...So there is no discussion,” he said.

This is al-Sharaa’s second appearance at the UN General Assembly since 2025, after he became the first Syrian president in nearly six decades to attend the gathering.

Before al-Sharaa, the last Syrian head of state to attend the General Assembly was in 1967, before the Assad family’s nearly five-decade rule ended with the ousting of then-President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 following a rapid offensive led by al-Sharaa. Assad’s removal brought an end to nearly 14 years of civil war.

Since taking power, al-Sharaa has sought to restore relations with Arab countries and Western governments, some of which had initially expressed concern over his previous ties to al-Qaeda. The rebel group he once led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was previously designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States.

Al-Sharaa has since promoted coexistence and sought to reassure Syria’s minority communities, although the country’s fragile recovery has been disrupted by outbreaks of sectarian violence. Fighters affiliated with the new government have also been accused of killing hundreds of civilians from the Druze and Alawite religious minorities.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov