The celebrations that followed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s electoral victory caused at least 20 people to be injured in rebel-held areas of northern Syria, according to the North Press Agency. The death of a child during the post-election revelries was also reported by ANHA news agency.
As the Turkish-backed factions unleashed a hail of gunfire in the air to express their elation over Erdoğan’s triumph, the organisation Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, extended its congratulations to the Turkish president on his electoral success.
HTS, considered a terrorist organisation by the Syrian government as well as internationally, currently exerts control over Idlib city and the western countryside of Aleppo. The organisation expressed its aspirations for improved security for the Turkish populace and greater support for the Syrian people and their revolution, spearheaded by Erdoğan.
HTS captured Afrin (Efrîn), now controlled by Turkey and allied Syrian rebel groups, in October 2022, and then withdrew from the region. At a time when Turkey was trying to create the conditions for reconciliation with Damascus, that it allowed HTS to enter Afrin raised questions at the time, and their congratulatory message from to Erdoğan raises similar questions now.
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad previously stipulated the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Syria as a prerequisite for a potential meeting with President Erdoğan to facilitate a rapprochement.
