Julani conceding mistakes as Tahrir al-Sham starts crumbling

Aya Ezz

Commander of what is known as Tahair al-Sham, the largest terrorist faction backed by Turkey in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, Abu Mohamed al-Julani, has conceded that he and his group had committed mistakes.

He added in an interview with the site of the International Crisis Group on February 20, that these mistakes included attacks against other factions operating in Idlib.

Al-Julani’s remarks come as Idlib witnesses a growing conflict between Turkey and Russia. Tahrir al-Sham used to control Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo. However, the ongoing conflict has restricted the presence of the group to sporadic areas in Idlib’s northern countryside.

Conceding mistakes

Al-Julani talked about the attacks his group launched against other factions in Idlib. He justified these attacks by saying that the United States had tried to help foreign groups establish presence in Syria.

Tahrir al-Sham, he said, is badly in need of opening dialogue with the other factions on the Syrian stage.

“It cannot control Idlib alone,” al-Julani said of his group.

He said Tahrir al-Sham tries to redress the mistakes it committed in the past.

Tahrir al-Sham antagonized a large number of Idlib factions in the past years and disbanded them.

Reconciliation

Al-Julani said his group is reconciling with humanitarian organizations, even as it attacked the same organizations in the past.

Tahrir al-Sham, he said, is ready to help any humanitarian organization return to Idlib.

Tahrir al-Sham used to close down the offices of these organizations and kick them out of the Syrian province.

Weakness

Egyptian political analyst, Mukhtar al-Ghobashi, attributed the changing position of Tahrir al-Sham towards the other factions of Idlib and the humanitarian organizations to the current weaknesses of the group.

Al-Julani curries favors with the factions, al-Ghobashi told The Reference.

He added that Tahrir al-Sham just wants to put things back in order to be up to the battles with against Russia.

Al-Ghobashi said Turkey is now acting against Tahrir al-Sham only to please Moscow.