Regional leaders flock to Damascus to discuss future with new leader al-Julani

Julani’s new government is now eyeing the consolidation of international legitimacy as the new Syria.

By OHAD MERLIN DECEMBER 26, 2024 15:32

HTS LEADER Abu Mohammed al-Julani (right), meets with Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in Damascus. (photo credit: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)

An extraordinary fleet carrying regional leaders arrived in Damascus over the past week, all en route to pay a visit to Syria’s new leader, Abu Muhammad al-Julani.

Julani's control over Syria is not yet complete: the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the east, constantly targeted by the Turkish military, is a potential challenge to his consolidated rule; while only yesterday, there were reports of armed clashes between supporters of the Assad regime and forces loyal to the new one in the port city of Tartus.

However, after the rapid takeover of the country by the Syrian rebels, led by Al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which lasted only 11 days, Julani’s new government is now eyeing the consolidation of international legitimacy as the new Syria.

This week’s series of high-ranking visits began on Sunday, as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Damascus and met with Julani. Although the Turkish Foreign Ministry did not provide much information about the content of the meeting, it is likely that the two discussed the consolidation of the new regime, which received wide support from Erdogan’s Turkiye, and the two may also have discussed the eastern regions controlled by the Kurds, with whom Turkey sees itself as having a long-standing score to settle on the backdrop of its own ongoing conflicts with the local ethnic group.

PEOPLE HOLD a Syrian opposition flag as they celebrate the ouster of Bashar Assad in Damascus last Sunday. (credit: REUTERS/FIRAS MAKDESI)

On the same day, the prominent Druze political leader in Lebanon, Walid Jumblatt, also met with Julani along with Druze dignitaries from his country. During the high-profile meeting, Julani highlighted Assad regime’s responsibility on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, and openly rejected the previous regime’s tendency to intervene in Lebanese affairs on many occasions in the past, while emphasizing to Jumblatt that the new Syria will respect Lebanese sovereignty.

It should be noted that the Druze in Syria, especially the large population concentrations in the southern region of Suwayda, have been struggling against the Assad regime continuously for the past decade, accusing the regime of assassinating several of their political leaders. In contrast, Jumblatt was known in the past as a supporter, at least de facto, of the Assad-Hezbollah axis. Some have analyzed Jumblatt’s support for the pro-Iranian axis as his way of ensuring the consolidation of the Druze community’s position in Lebanon under difficult circumstances.

Julani’s meeting with Jumblatt, the first Lebanese leader to arrive in Damascus since the fall of the Assad regime, should be read in the same context as an attempt to consolidate the Druze community’s ties with the new regime, and perhaps also as an attempt to present himself as a leader acceptable to the Druze community in both countries. Julani himself also has an interest in such a public meeting, with the aim of creating an image for himself of a leader over the entirety of Syria, regardless of denominations and sects.

Relations with Jordan

The third prominent meeting of this week took place a day later, when Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi landed in Damascus for a high-profile meeting with Julani the first Arab foreign minister to do so (and the last foreign minister to meet with former president Assad, as some have noted online). According to reports in the Arab media, during the meeting, al-Safadi offered assistance to Syria, emphasizing that the stability and security of Syria are also the stability and security of the Kingdom of Jordan.

Jordan shares a long border of more than 360 kilometers with Syria, and it has been significantly affected by the Syrian civil war in the past decade. As a result of the war, hundreds of thousands of Syrian citizens crossed the border and settled mainly in refugee camps, and at one point it was claimed that the Al-Zaatari refugee camp in the northern part of the kingdom became the third largest city in Jordan. In addition, Jordan has long been concerned about the spread of Salafi-jihadist ideologies that threaten to affect the minds of young Jordanians, especially in the southern peripheral regions, and motivate them to oppose King Abdullah’s regime.

Therefore, it is plausible that Al-Safadi also wanted to make sure with his own eyes whether the new Syrian leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who was himself affiliated with Al-Qaeda circles in the past, had in fact gone through a process of moderation, both externally and internally.

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On Monday, Qatari Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry, Mohammed Al-Khalifi, also arrived in Damascus and met with Julani to emphasize his country’s support. Qatar, one of the first countries to announce its recognition of the new Syrian government, has been known for their sponsorship for Islamist organizations loyal to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Julani and HTS are no exception.

According to Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya, an unnamed Saudi official also met with Julani earlier this week in Damascus. The amount of visitors should be taken into account alongside a letter sent from the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Aal Khalifa, to Julani a couple of weeks ago in which he called for full cooperation with his regime, as well reports that Israel has also begun to establish some form of indirect contact with the rebel organizations in Syria.

All these add up to a significant leap forward for Julani’s legitimacy in the region. Despite some challenges along the way – from partially loyal regions and sects to sporadic reports of rebels’ violence toward minorities, as well as the question of the full consolidation of the political apparatus of the new Syria – Julani’s path towards formal international recognition has never been clearer, and the new green-shaded Syrian independence flag may be waiving soon in UN institutions as well.

What is certain is that the vacuum created by the quick fall of the Assad regime holds potential opportunities and risks for countries of the region, each country and its interests – whether military, security, ideological, economic or political. In the meantime, Julani will continue to enjoy the prestige of a new regional leader to whom the leaders of other countries make pilgrimage.