Syria: Those in power want to bring all weapons under state control

Syria’s new rulers want to place all weapons in the country under state control and integrate all militias into the army. The head of the Islamist militia Hajat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, said on Sunday at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that all armed groups would soon “announce their dissolution” to join the armed forces. For his part, Fidan called for a rapid lifting of sanctions against Syria.

The meeting between al-Sharaa and Fidan took place two weeks after the overthrow of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad by the HTS and its allied militias. Since then, the new rulers have been trying to push ahead with the reorganization of state structures and the reconstruction of the country, which was badly damaged by the almost 14-year civil war. Fidan appealed to the international community to lift the Syria sanctions against the Assad government “as quickly as possible”.

For his part, HTS leader al-Sharaa said his militia would not allow “weapons outside of state control to exist in the country.” This also applies to the northeastern areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Kurdish YPG militia dominates within the SDF, against which the Turkish army and its allies are fighting. Turkish forces and their allied groups occupy other parts of northern Syria.

Turkey has continued its operations against the Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria since the coup in the country. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that Turkish troops used a drone to fire on a vehicle in Hassake province, killing five civilians.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that it was “time to wipe out the terrorist groups that exist in Syria.” Ankara considers the YPG militia to be an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey – as well as the EU and the USA – classifies as a terrorist organization. However, the USA has been allied with the YPG militia for years in the fight against the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS).

Turkey, in turn, is an important supporter of the HTS. Turkish influence in Syria has consequently grown since the coup. However, Fidan countered the impression that Turkish support had enabled the overthrow of Assad, who fled to Russia after a two-week lightning offensive and the capture of the capital Damascus. “This victory belongs to you and no one else,” said the Turkish Foreign Minister to the HTS boss.

At the same time, Fidan expressed the expectation that US President-elect Donald Trump would end his country’s support for the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. This corresponds to US interests when Trump weighs up the importance of Türkiye or a “terrorist organization like the PKK” for his country.

Al-Sharaa’s meeting with Fidan was part of a diplomatic offensive launched by the new Syrian rulers a few days ago. The HTS has so far been classified as a terrorist organization by many Western countries, including the USA. However, it presents itself as a moderate force that wants to unite and stabilize the country.

At the press conference with Fidan, al-Sharaa, who had previously appeared under his nom de guerre Mohammed al-Jolani, assured that his militia was working to protect the various ethnic and religious groups in the country from attacks. “Syria is a country for everyone and we can live together,” he said.

Earlier on Sunday, al-Sharaa assured at a meeting with representatives of Lebanon’s Druze minority that Damascus would not continue to “negatively interfere” in Lebanon’s affairs. The new Syrian leadership “respects Lebanon’s sovereignty, the unity of its territory, the independence of its decisions and its security stability.”

The Syrian army invaded Lebanon in 1976 as part of Arab forces to end the civil war that had broken out there a year earlier. However, Syrian troops remained present in the neighboring country until 2005, where pro-Syrian groups such as the Hezbollah militia from then on dominated all areas of political and military life.

Already on Friday evening, after a meeting with a US delegation, the new Syrian rulers declared that they wanted to contribute to “regional peace”. Meanwhile, the HTS also appointed a foreign minister. It is Assaad Hassan al-Shibani, who, according to the militia, joined the “Syrian revolution” against Assad in 2011.