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g Carnival of happiness has erupted in Syria with the fall of the strongman Bashar al-Assad. Syrians have waited a long time and paid a heavy price for this jubilation. Thirteen years ago A country’s revolution begins with a peaceful demonstration. since then one by one estimateMore than 600,000 Syrians have died, and the authoritarian regime’s list of crimes is much longer. It covers peacetime abuses and goes back 54 years to the time of Hafez. Assad’s father first came to the throne, the Ba’ath Party, which once sought power over the entire Arab world. It has lost its last stronghold.
Relief and joy over Assad’s downfall are reasonable, but they will soon give way to the hard work of rebuilding order in a country wracked by years of war and oppression. year The success of this mission will depend largely on two factors: the ability of Assad’s different opponents to work together; and the willingness of neighboring countries which is mostly Türkiye in accepting the results
Within a year of its founding in 2011, the Syrian revolution had devolved into a civil war. And since then The country’s territory is also divided into numerous armed groups. Even now After the fall of Assad There are several entities that govern different parts of the country. Damascus has been liberated by three groups: the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS); The Southern Laboratory was established a few days ago as a coalition of armed forces opposing the local regime in the south. and the US-backed Free Syrian Army. It is an armed group that has long controlled areas near the tri-Syria-Jordan-Iraq border. In addition to the capital There are two other groups competing in the country’s northern and eastern regions: the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by a leftist Kurdish party with links to fellow Kurds in Turkey; and dangerous opponents That is the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). Even as Syrians celebrate the fall of Damascus, the SDF and SNA clash over control of Manbij, the only major city the SDF holds west of the Euphrates River.
It will be interesting to see where these groups might be divided. and put them at odds with Syria’s neighbors. It was not difficult: the US designated HTS, which has its roots in al-Qaeda. which is a terrorist group And keeping a $10 million bounty on the head of its charismatic leader, HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani points to the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan as a source of inspiration. And the Taliban were quick to congratulate Jolani on his group’s progress. The SDF, on the other hand, is backed by a small US force and traces its roots to Kurdish feminist and American socialist-anarchist thinker Murray Bookchin. Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed force operating in Turkey and is a terrorist group that the United States It is also given that, for this reason, Ankara considers the concentration of the SDF in northeastern Syria to be a threat to national security. and has repeatedly carried out brutal operations against the SDF. Both directly and through SNA support.
These are just some of the groups that must work together to create a new order in Syria. and to avoid the fate of post-2011 Libya or post-2003 Iraq. But as difficult as that is, with that cooperation Syria also sees enough alternatives to invest in it to be successful. During the past week Leaders of ethnic and sectarian communities in Syria which is about 70 percent Sunni Arab and the rest is made up of Kurds. Turkmen Druze, Christians, Jews, and Alawites are the majority. They met in cities across the country and pledged to work together.
In particular, HTS has made every effort to recognize minorities, e.g. Christian in Aleppo and Shia in Salamiyyah that they have nothing to fear. and the Jolani state disappeared from Idlib. Syria’s northwest has, since 2017, hardly been a beachhead for brutal fundamentalist groups. It is not a democracy either, and neither HTS nor its predecessor, Jabhat al-Nusra, are democratic. It has been accused of suppressing dissent and harassing the region’s Druze minority, but in recent years Jolani has devoted his energies to building trustworthy state institutions. (These proved their mettle during the coronavirus pandemic and last year’s earthquake in northwestern Syria) and helped the United States. Effective in suppressing al-Qaeda and remnants of the Islamic State group.
Earlier today, HTS announced a new transitional government led by Mohammed al-Bashir, an Idlib-born technocrat. and has been the state operator of HTS since January. The new government is working with the outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet to ensure a smooth transition. HTS also issued a statement saying: “Forcing women to wear specific clothing or hindering their right to choose their clothing or appearance is strictly prohibited.” Will women’s rights be protected in Syria? It will be a big test of this new order.
That Salih, a Muslim figure in the SDF, has expressed interest in working with Jolani’s group is perhaps not surprising: “They are Syrians first and foremost. And they have changed their minds from when they were jihadis.” Muslim tell Al Arabiya on December 5, before praising the group’s “discipline” in welcoming the fall of Assad, SDF military chief Mazloum Abdi said: “This change presents an opportunity to Build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that guarantees the rights of all Syrians.”
But what is even more fraught than cooperation between HTS and the SDF is the latter’s relationship with Türkiye. Syria’s powerful northern neighbor has long been concerned about promoting Kurdish demands for autonomy within its own borders. And these concerns may condition how much autonomy the Kurds will be able to maintain. Of course, Iraq now has a semi-autonomous Kurdish region. And Ankara is not just making peace with that. It has also established good relations with regional governments, but the Syrian SDF is more extremist than Iraq’s Kurdish leadership. and have extensive relationships Both in language and others with the Kurds in Türkiye
The SDF may attempt to negotiate a diplomatic agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if that fails, especially if President-elect Donald Trump is elected. Withdraw US support from the SDF as he has promised to do. The group could also find itself in danger. The SDF has operated as one of the most liberal and socially enlightened in the Middle East. And its collapse will not bode well for Syria’s future as a divided country.
Tired of nearly 14 years of bloody civil war, millions of Syrians want to put the past behind them and build a better future. Citizens of other countries The region also wants to focus on economic development rather than perpetual war. Iran’s Axis of Resistance The main cause of instability throughout the Middle East It has completely collapsed. Even some of its supporters wrote its obituary.
No one expected a thriving liberal democracy to suddenly emerge from the ashes of the Syrian civil war. But if Syrians can put aside their differences, They will begin to build productive cities that can improve the welfare of their citizens. That would be a victory for the entire Middle East.
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