Holdout Operations Room condemns, threatens Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham over arrests in Syria’s Idlib
Lucas Chapman
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – The newly-formed Syrian opposition affiliated Fathbatu (Holdout) Operations Room released a statement on Monday condemning the actions of the Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), demanding the immediate release of the detainees.
The operations room added a threat that “the unjust and attackers [HTS] will bear the consequences in this life and the next.”
The tension between Syrian opposition affiliated HTS and the operations room, both of which are backed by Turkey, increased in the past two weeks over interests and ruling areas of Idlib province.
This statement comes after HTS arrested multiple individuals, including its own former leader Abu Malek al-Tali, on Monday, as well as ex-British national Tauqir Sharif, a self-identified aid worker who was stripped of his British citizenship in 2013.
To some observers, this declaration may appear as a series of “internal conflicts” among a fracturing Turkish-backed Syrian opposition in decline. However, according to Foreign Policy Research Institute Fellow Elizabeth Tsurkov, “this is not the decline or the end of HTS; it in fact is about cementing HTS hold over the territory and showing that it is a useful counterterrorism partner to Turkey and to the West.”
According to Tsurkov, HTS’ strategy for maintaining control over the remaining opposition-held areas of Syria’s northwest is to appease its Turkish backers, a tactic they have adopted since 2017.
This strategy has often led to them interfering with the operations of other Salafist groups operating in the country’s northwest. “HTS has foiled multiple offensive operations planned by the [Rouse] the Believers Operations Room, and they are basically trying to prevent these groups from violating the ceasefire in a way that would displease Turkey or prompt a regime and Russian assault on Idlib,” Tsurkov said to North Press.
In April, HTS supported protests on the M4 highway against the conduct of Russian-Turkish patrols, providing transportation, tents, and food to protestors, according to Tsurkov.
Russian forces are deeply unpopular in the Idlib region, which has been subjected to destructive airstrikes, including on civilian structures such as hospitals, resulting in property damage and the deaths of thousands of civilians.
Though HTS initially supported and facilitated these protests, clashes eventually broke out between Turkish forces conducting patrols and protestors as well as members of the opposition and HTS’ interim Salvation Government.
“When Turkey made it clear that these protests would not be allowed, [HTS] actually started blocking them…[the protests] basically fizzled out the minute that HTS backing was removed.”
The Fathbatu statement seems to hurl thinly veiled criticisms at HTS for its cooperation with foreign powers, stating that they will “never drag the region to what satisfies the enemy and the hypocrites.”
HTS has not expressly revealed the reasons for the individual arrests, though they did publish a statement on the same day as the Fathbatu statement stating that it is not permissible for members of HTS to leave the group, form any fighting faction or operations room, or join any other militant group.
(Editing by Hisham Arafat)
Holdout Operations Room statement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham statement