How the former branch of Al-Qaeda, HTC, is trying to smoothen its image to position itself in the conquest of power in Syria

“Syrian Kurds have the right to live in dignity and freedom, like all other Syrians. In the future Syria, we believe that diversity will be our strength, not a weakness. » Unimaginable a few years ago, the press release, translated into English, was written on December 2 by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTC), the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, whose men were at the forefront -posts from the conquest of Aleppo. A few hours later, HTC, which now defines itself as a Syrian revolutionary Islamist movement, granted free passage to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), allowing them to retreat towards their stronghold in northeastern Syria.

A way of dissociating itself from the pro-Turkish rebel groups, activated by Ankara and gone on the offensive against the forces of Rojava, the Kurdish entity linked to the Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). And a new opportunity to give pledges of pragmatism to the West in the hope of being removed from the list of terrorist organizations: a sine qua non condition for hoping to one day gain power in Damascus, the ultimate objective of the the organization and its leader, Abu Mohammed Al-Joulani.

To the Aleppins who naturally fear the fundamentalist aims of HTC and have not forgotten its past abuses, Abou Mohammad Al-Joulani responded, on November 29, by calling on his fighters not to “instill fear in [leur] people of all faiths” : an outstretched hand to minorities, notably Christians, still several thousand in the city. Aware that the tiny demographic weight of minorities cannot in any way overshadow them and of all the advantage that there is to gain, in terms of image, by taking care of them, the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda had even opened a timid dialogue with the Christians of the Idlib region, its stronghold, as long as the latter did not display their confessional affiliation: the crosses were removed from the churches, which could not ring their bells. bells.

“Everyone changes”

“Everyone changes, HTC too. They know that they will be judged and that, to attract public support, they need to act differently. But I don't believe in these assurances that they are giving to civilians or their partners in Aleppo. They already did it in Idlib and then turned on everyone. I don’t trust them, they maintain a very autocratic mentality”nevertheless fears Rim Turkmani, researcher at the conflict and civil society research unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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