By Adem Kılıç, Political Scientist
We are witnessing the birth of a new Syria without the Assad regime.
After 13 years of civil war, the more than half-century-long regime from Hafez al-Assad to his son Bashar, who seized power in a military coup on November 13, 1970, came to an end with a final 13-day counter-offensive by opposition forces.
However, this change represents a historic transformation not only for the Syrian people but also for the entire region.
The Syrian civil war, which started in 2011, has turned into an arena where the rehearsal of the third world war was held.
From the US to Russia, Iran, Iran, France and the Gulf countries, many countries have fought both proxy and intelligence wars on Syrian soil.
Almost every actor has tried to shape the Syrian theater in line with its own interests. Powers such as the US and France, which disregard alliance relations between states, even had to experience the incapacity to define terrorist organizations as “allies”.
This is precisely why this change represents a historic transformation not only for the Syrian people but also for the entire region.
We are at the beginning of a new Middle East, free of the foreign interference that has plagued the region for so long.
Although Russia and Iran’s “focus on other fronts” and their 13 years of “fatigue” in Syria triggered the dynamics of the process, Türkiye was undoubtedly the mastermind of the process that upset the plans of all these powers, including the US, Russia, Iran and France.
For 13 years, Türkiye has taken steps to prevent the establishment of a terrorist state on its border despite its so-called allies and the terrorist organizations they support, while adhering to international law and teaching the world a lesson by welcoming more than 3 million Syrian refugees while the world ignored the lives of Aylan babies washing ashore.
While the end of the Assad regime ushered in a new era in Syria, it also announced Türkiye’s evolution from a regional power to a global playmaker.
Türkiye is winning both on the ground and at the table
At this point, Türkiye started to take the initiative from the very first minute for a smooth transition to a new governance structure that embodies the wishes of the Syrian people who endured a great tragedy. In the minutes when Assad fled to Moscow, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was holding a meeting with the foreign ministers of Russia and Iran in Doha.
Hakan Fidan said after the meeting: “All minorities in Syria must be treated fairly. A new government must be formed in an inclusive manner and opposition forces must unite. We have had intensive contacts with both regional and international actors in the last week. We will do our utmost to restore peace and security in Syria.” The fact that this speech came after a meeting with representatives of the two countries that kept Assad in power for 13 years was of great importance.
This is because Türkiye, on the one hand, had destroyed the terrorist state project of the terrorists supported by the US in the region with its operations, and on the other hand, it had restrained the policies of Assad’s supporters, Russia and Iran, in Syria with the Astana format. In other words, the table set up in Doha was a table that declared the bankruptcy of all the plans of both Russia, Iran and the US in Syria.
Türkiye declared to the world who is the decision-making country in the region through this table.
What will happen next?
In fact, to answer the question “what will happen next”, it is necessary to talk at length about the tragedies that have taken place in Syria for half a century, such as the Hama massacre in which 20 thousand people were massacred, and to indicate what should and will change accordingly.
However, Bashar al-Assad’s statement in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: “There is no way to govern our society without stepping on people’s heads with our shoes” sums it all up.
Syria will now be reshaped as a country ruled by its citizens, not by a family that for more than half a century has put its own interests above those of the country.
Of course, we have to accept that there will be challenges along the way.
Syria has a long way to go, building a new constitution, a new army, and rebuilding the cities that have been destroyed in 13 years.
The fact that this process will be carried out together with Türkiye will be the Syrian people’s greatest chance.
Türkiye will continue to protect both its own security and Syria’s territorial integrity by rooting out terrorist groups operating under the name of establishing a terrorist state in the north of Syria, while putting its hand under the stone for the real owners of Syria to rebuild a free and independent Syria.