QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Areas under the control of Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as Syrian National Army (SNA), in northern Syria face a new challenge represented in the creation of a new military formation supported by the US.
This comes at a time when Turkey tries to reconcile with Syrian government.
According to the Lebanese al-Akhbar, a newspaper affiliated with the Syrian government, quoting opposition field sources as saying the new project of creating a new military formation comes “as a response to endeavors by the US in creating an appropriate ground to develop investments aiming at reviving the region within a broader scheme to establish the current de facto control and to abort the Astana Peace Talks.”
Russia had invited the US to the Astana meetings as an “observer” but it declined, according to Russia’s deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
Sources revealed that US officials proposed the necessity of re-forming a new national army during their meetings with the Syrian opposition (Syrian National Coalition and the Interim Government).
They also stressed the necessity of “putting an end to the factional disputes that could obstruct the process of reviving the region economically in addition to sharing new popular figures in its administration on the security arena.
North Press contacted the Counseling Office of the SNA to verify the issue; however, it refused to make any commentary, and at the same time did not deny the issue saying “It has political repercussions that could damage the military and political situation in the region.”
According to information, there have recently been talks of creating an administration composed of 28 members, seven representatives of the three legions that make the SNA in addition to seven others representing notables of the region.
On September 6, factions of the SNA with the participation of political figures announced the formation of a “unified revolutionary council,” with the aim to unify all military leaders, end dispute and wars, run economical resources and security checkpoints, legal offices, surveillance and public relations.
Exploiting HTS
The announcement comes on the background of an initiative made by director of the Counseling Office of the SNA, Hassan al-Degheim, along with a number of Syrian academicians.
Al-Akhbar indicated that the opposition “doubts about Turkish role in sabotaging the project,” especially representatives of the Turkish intelligence who rejected lately three proposals made by the SNA factions to unify their activities.
The initiative was first made after the entry of the HTS to Jindires district and Afrin city in northern Aleppo to support Ahrar al-Sham movement- Eastern Sector (Division 32) to encounter the Levant Front (al-Jabha al-Shamiya/Third Legion) in June before its withdrawal by a Turkish mediation.
Prior to that, many parties proposed a similar initiative late in February in line with the issue of holding accountable leader of Suleiman Shah Brigade, Muhammad al-Jassem (Abu Amsha).
Last month, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Afrin, Azaz, Marea, al-Bab, Jarablus and the town of Akhtarin in north and east of Aleppo to urge SNA factions to unite and face the Syrian government forces.
The goal of the new administration is to institutionalize the activities of the factions, form a unified administration for border crossings and resources of finance, and to prevent factions to operate beyond its control, according to al-Akhbar.
The proposal, however, was rejected by a number of factions affiliated with the Turkish intelligence services including Suleiman Shah and al-Hamza.
Following that, a decision was passed to remove the two factions from the Third Division that arouses fears of new encounters in the future, as the two factions preserve their position amid attempts by their proponents to control their areas.
This brings to the fore again the Turkish desire to exploit the HTS and to create the ground for its control of northern Aleppo due to the dependency of its leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani and the “success” of his project in Idlib and the increased suspicion of relations that were on the rise between opposition factions and the US, according to al-Akhbar.
Impediments and agreement of Turkish openness to Damascus
This comes in line with efforts by Turkey showing its desire to reconcile with Damascus amid Russian applause that proposed a meeting of Minister of Foreign Affairs of both countries in preparation for a two-way summit.
However, this is engulfed with obstructions related to Ankara’s policy and the US endeavor to withdraw the Syrian opposition card from Turkey.
Moscow, in cooperation with Tehran, in line with Astana, seeks to remove obstructions between Damascus and Ankara and step up efforts after leaks of Hakan Fidan and Ali Mamlouk prolonged meetings in Damascus and meetings between military officials of both countries.
According to a number of Turkish papers, such as “Sabah” affiliated with Justice and Development Party (AKP) discoursed indirectly on the demands set by Damascus to reconcile with Ankara represented in the Turkish withdrawal from Syrian territories and stopping its support to opposition.
These conditions create obstructions to any Syrian-Turkish reconciliation amid the latter’s desire to keep its forces in northern Syria for the time being, and to withdraw later according to conditions of which “removing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from its borders.”
There seems agreement between Turkey’s efforts to get rid of Syrian refugees, and both Damascus and Moscow ones to return refugees from neighboring countries that create a first common ground for Syrian-Turkish dialogue.
Of the obstructions that could impede reconciliation between the two countries, is a broader role of the US in the region and “Washington’s desire to keep the status quo that serves its agendas and guarantees its presence in oil- rich areas,” according to al-Akhbar.
Militarily, Russian and Syrian government forces increased their shelling of areas and gatherings of the HTS, and the intensification of the Turkish shelling of northeast Syria, where Syrian government posts are present in.
However, Ankara shows, through political versions circulated on papers affiliated with AKP, a great desire to make a “success” in its normalization with Damascus, and an implied recognition of the failure of its policy adopted in Syria.