LATAKIA, Syria — Life goes on fairly normally on the Syrian coast, which is mainly inhabited by people loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, despite the rapid developments taking place elsewhere in Syria and Iraq. Though some continue to receive the bodies of their children who lost their lives while fighting alongside the Syrian regime, other Syrians seem not to be interested in the proclamation of an Islamic caliphate by the Islamic State (IS, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS).

In a small beach cafe in the city of Latakia — whose northern countryside continues to be plagued by fierce battles — a group of young men and women gathered, deriding the proclamation of an Islamic caliphate by IS. One of them asked, “Are you not afraid that this project will deprive you of your lifestyle?”

“Those seeking to implement such a project will not be able to control all of Syria. They will be defeated in the end. Perhaps a portion of the Sunnis will live under (IS) rule, but their state will not persist,” he said.

A young woman raised an alcoholic drink and said, “We might have been leading a bad life under the rule of the Syrian regime, in light of the corruption and lack of political freedom, but we stand by the Syrian army in its battle to defend our way of life.”