As Syria grapples with a brand new chapter following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime, Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa – often known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – has emerged as a key energy dealer in northern Syria. Main Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a bunch with roots in Al-Qaeda, al-Sharaa has shed his militant picture, donning tailor-made fits in a calculated bid to rebrand himself as a practical chief. But, this transformation masks a bloody historical past, and the worldwide help enabling HTS raises important questions in regards to the broader dynamics of the Syrian battle.
From jihadist operative to pragmatic strategist
Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa started his profession as a faithful jihadist operative, rising by the ranks of Al-Qaeda beneath the mentorship of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and later Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. His institution of Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria in 2011 marked the start of his journey as a key participant within the Syrian Civil Struggle. By 2013, al-Sharaa broke from Baghdadi, positioning his group as an impartial power.
His management was outlined by calculated pivots. In 2017, he rebranded Jabhat al-Nusra into HTS, severing formal ties with Al-Qaeda and presenting the group as a neighborhood governing entity. Whereas these rebranding efforts had been extensively dismissed as superficial, they efficiently allowed al-Sharaa to draw each regional help and a level of worldwide tolerance.
A bloody legacy constructed on concern
HTS’ rise to energy has been accompanied by relentless violence, significantly focusing on ethnic and non secular minorities. Below al-Sharaa’s management, the group orchestrated campaigns of terror that cemented its dominance whereas devastating communities:
The Yazidi genocide (2014): Throughout al-Sharaa’s alignment with ISIS, fighters performed a task within the systemic bloodbath of Yazidis in Sinjar. 1000’s of males had been executed, whereas girls and youngsters had been enslaved in a marketing campaign later acknowledged as genocide. Survivors described the dehumanizing brutality. “They handled us as animals,” mentioned one Yazidi survivor. “They killed my father and brothers and bought me in a market like I used to be nothing.”
The Afrin marketing campaign (2018): In northern Syria, HTS focused Kurdish civilians in a marketing campaign of destruction and displacement. Villages had been burned, males executed, and ladies subjected to widespread sexual violence. “They erased us,” a Kurdish survivor who refused to be recognized mentioned in testimony . “Not simply our properties, however our historical past and our future. They name it governance, however it’s simply battle by one other title.”
These atrocities reveal a management fashion rooted in using concern and sectarian division as instruments of management. In addition they increase questions in regards to the regional and worldwide help that has sustained HTS regardless of its violent historical past.
The position of regional and worldwide backers
Whereas al-Sharaa’s HTS rebrands itself as a governance-focused entity, the group’s operations proceed to be bolstered by exterior help. Regional neighbors, together with Türkiye and Qatar, have reportedly performed a major position in funding and arming HTS. Intelligence-sharing and logistical backing have enabled the group to keep up its stronghold in Idlib and broaden its affect.
Türkiye’s position: Türkiye, a NATO ally of the US, has been accused of offering weapons, funds, and tactical help to HTS beneath the guise of countering Kurdish militias. Turkish intelligence has reportedly labored intently with HTS leaders, leveraging the group as a proxy power to advance its geopolitical targets in northern Syria. This relationship has drawn sharp criticism from human rights teams, who warn that Türkiye’s involvement dangers normalizing HTS’ management.
Qatar Funding: Lengthy accused of funding extremist teams beneath the guise of humanitarian assist, Qatar has additionally been linked to HTS. The Gulf state’s monetary backing has enabled the group to keep up its operations and broaden its management over territories in Idlib. Whereas Doha formally denies direct ties to HTS, leaked intelligence stories and statements from opposition teams level to substantial monetary flows from Qatari networks to jihadist factions, together with HTS.
American complicity through allies: Whereas the US has formally designated HTS as a terrorist group, its oblique help through allies like Türkiye has sparked controversy. Washington’s reliance on regional companions to counter ISIS and Iranian affect has, deliberately or in any other case, contributed to HTS’ survival. By turning a blind eye to its allies’ backing of HTS, the US dangers undermining its personal counterterrorism agenda.
These dynamics reveal a troubling sample: The strategic use of jihadist teams by regional powers as instruments for advancing geopolitical objectives. Whereas these alliances could serve short-term targets, they usually come on the expense of native populations who bear the brunt of HTS’ rule.
From fatigues to a swimsuit: The pragmatic rebrand
In recent times, Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa has remodeled his public picture, buying and selling his fatigues for Western fits and adopting the rhetoric of a statesman. His media appearances emphasize governance and stability, positioning HTS as a counterweight to ISIS and a power able to managing northern Syria.
Al-Sharaa’s calculated transformation mirrors the ideas laid out by Niccolo Machiavelli in ‘The Prince’, the place Machiavelli argues that leaders should steadiness concern and advantage to safe energy. Al-Sharaa has utilized this pragmatism with outstanding precision, sustaining his grip on Idlib by violence whereas presenting himself to the skin world as a practical actor.
However this rebranding effort raises important questions: Can a pacesetter whose energy is constructed on the suppression of dissent and the persecution of minorities ever create lasting peace?
“They put on fits now, however nothing has modified,”
a displaced Christian from Idlib mentioned. “They rule by concern, and anybody who doesn’t conform disappears.”
The human value of HTS rule
For a lot of Syrians, HTS’ rise represents not stability however a continuation of persecution. Yazidis, Kurds, Christians, and secular communities stay weak beneath HTS’ rule. Even Sunni Muslims who reject the group’s inflexible theocracy face brutal penalties.
Secular activists have been silenced, girls are subjected to harsh restrictions, and dissenters dwell in fixed concern. A Kurdish survivor captured the stakes succinctly:
“They erase you – not simply your physique, however all the pieces about your existence. Your tradition, your historical past, your identification.”
HTS’ dominance has additionally sophisticated humanitarian efforts in northern Syria. Help organizations wrestle to navigate the group’s calls for, with stories of sources being diverted to maintain HTS’ operations reasonably than reaching the civilians who want them most.
The phantasm of stability
Whereas some regional powers view HTS as a practical device to counter ISIS and Iranian affect, this strategy dangers legitimizing a bunch whose historical past is outlined by concern and violence. Normalizing HTS may entrench its theocratic imaginative and prescient, alienating native populations and undermining long-term stability in Syria.
The rise of al-Sharaa and HTS underscores a deeper problem for the worldwide group: Learn how to steadiness speedy geopolitical pursuits with the moral crucial of defending weak populations. Can peace and governance ever be achieved beneath the management of a person who sanctioned atrocities and constructed his energy on the persecution of minorities?
A fragile crossroads
Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa’s transformation from a jihadist chief to a self-styled statesman epitomizes the complexities of Syria’s fractured panorama. Whereas his narrative of moderation could attraction to these in search of short-term options, his legacy tells a distinct story.
For Syrians who’ve suffered beneath HTS’ rule, the guarantees of stability ring hole. Any peace constructed on concern and division is not any peace in any respect. The query for the worldwide group is not only tips on how to handle HTS’ rise however whether or not empowering such teams sacrifices the very values wanted to rebuild a fractured nation. So long as regional powers and world alliances prioritize tactical beneficial properties over long-term justice, Syria’s future will stay unsure – and its wounds will stay unhealed.
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