By Hani Salem
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Turkish authorities are closely observing all divisions and changes taking place within the leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), but not publicly. They are aware of everything happening within the HTS, all while maintaining a complete silence.
Recently, the HTS has been experiencing internal divisions and defections among prominent leaders within its ranks. It began with figures like Abu Maria al-Qahtani and Abu Ahmad Zakour and others. Furthermore, the HTS’ security branches arrest and pursue those who challenge HTS’ policies or attempt to expose its internal affairs, especially targeting HTS members.
According to Bilal al-Khani, a security official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in the north of Idlib, northwestern Syria, the Turkish authorities are fully aware of the changes since taking over the issue of non-Syrian militants, which the HTS’ General Security Service (GSS) previously oversaw. The Turkish authorities intensified meetings with key HTS leaders like Abu Ahmad Hudud, al-Mughira al-Badawi, and, formerly, Abu Maria al-Qahtani.
Al-Khani told North Press that the Turkish authorities evidently wanted to cooperate with HTS on various issues, but covertly to avoid international pressure. “This is why, before every meeting, we deactivate the surveillance cameras and completely change the guards before, during, and even after the meetings,” he said.
The security official revealed that two meeting were held between Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of HTS, and a Turkish security official named Kahan. The meetings took place in an office at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with each session lasting for about three to four hours.
According to al-Khani, following the meeting, al-Julani’s brother-in-law, al-Mughira al-Badawi, visited Turkey and stayed there for five days before returning in June. “Of course, there are certain conditions to cooperate with Turkey and it seems that al-Julani indeed started implementing these conditions, relying on al-Badawi,” he said.
Al-Khani added that the roadmap became clear after arresting Abu Maria al-Qahtani and pursuing Abu Ahmad Zakour, in addition to the arrest of several security and military leaders associated with them. As part of this roadmap, Abu Dawoud al-Turkmani, Abu Ahmad Hudud and al-Badawi were assigned in charge of security files with Turkey, in addition to HTS’ internal affairs, including its military relations with the Turkish-backed armed opposition, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA).
He pointed out that this roadmap means “the elimination of old figures not accepted by the Turkish side who were standing in the way of certain issues for unknown reasons.”
Since mid-August 2023, imbalances have emerged within the HTS’ structure, despite al-Julani’s attempts to conceal them, following the arrest of Abu Maria al-Qahtani, which was followed by dozens of arrests of military and security leaders within the founding figures like Abu Ahmad Zakour (Jihad Issa al-Sheikh) and Muzhar al-Wais, the top Sharia lawmaker of HTS’ Shura Council, who was recently placed under house arrest.
Abu Musa al-Shami, a GSS official who previously supervised security matters at the Shura Council, said, “We started to clearly see some changes following the meetings at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. Then, we knew that strict measures were on the way, but we did not anticipate that they would directly target the core of the HTS.”
Al-Shami added, “In July 2023, we received directives from Abu Muhammad al-Filastini, deputy of Abu Maria al-Qahtani, to carry out security operations targeting former and current HTS members accused of treason. In mid-August, however, we received an order to surround Abu Maria al-Qahtani’s house in Idlib and arrest him on charges of espionage.”
At that moment, “We realized that it was a turning point either ending the HTS or a completely changing its approach, especially since this arrest was followed by a widespread campaign of arrests targeting pro-al-Qahtani leaders, particularly those from Hasakah, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor,” he said.
After two weeks, Abu Ahmad Zakour, a key figure in the HTS and al-Julani’s right-hand, was also detained over allegations of espionage and exploiting his connections with the SNA factions in an attempt to overthrow al-Julani. After his detention, military leaders and tribal elders intervened and Zakour was released.
Prior to the arrests, al-Julani had assigned the responsibilities of security, military, and other matters to his brother-in-law al-Mughira al-Badawi, the emir of Idlib, and Abu Ahmad Hudud from the General Command, and Abu Dawoud al-Turkmani, who serves as a security coordinator with the Turkish forces. Hence, the authority of the detained leaders had been reduced prior to their arrests.
Haroun al-Daho, an officer of a special forces group within the GSS said, “First, the orders came to arrest Mazhar al-Wais, then they inormed us to place him under house arrest alongside one of his assistants, Abu al-Ala al-Sanhaji.”
The Shura Council used to include primarily al-Qahtani, Zakour, al-Wais, and Abdulrahim Atoun, according to al-Shami. “When these three were arrested, the old era of the HTS ended,” he said.
“According to obtained information, the arrests of leaders and the change in the HTS’ internal structure are carried out under orders from Turkish authorities… without knowing where the HTS is heading,” he pointed out.
North Press tried through sources in the region to inquire from Masleh al-Alyani, a Saudi individual with close connections to al-Julani, about the changes in HTS’ structure, but he refused to comment, only saying that “Things will become clear sooner than expected.”