Fatal blow to Brotherhood following restoration of Tunisian-Syrian relations

Nora Bandari

The Tunisian state, led by President Kais Saied, decided on April 13 to restore relations with Syria and open the embassies of the two countries after an 11-year estrangement following the outbreak of the Syrian war, which raises questions about the extent of the impact of this decision on the Brotherhood, represented in the Ennahda movement and the Tunisian opposition currents, especially since the decision to sever relations with Syria was made during the rule of former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, an ally of the Brotherhood who is currently trying to return to the political scene again by employing his elements to create a state of tension in the country and oppose any decisions taken by President Saied.

Tunisian approach

It should be noted that the Tunisian decision to restore relations with Syria comes in the midst of the regional efforts led by a number of countries in the Arab region to return Syria to its Arab surroundings prior to the Arab Summit to be held in Saudi Arabia in May 2023. This is in addition to the ongoing reconciliations in the region, which resulted in discussions between Riyadh and Damascus to restore relations between the two countries, the resumption of consular services after a rupture of more than 10 years, in addition to the return of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran after a rupture of seven years, as well as the Egyptian-Turkish talks to restore relations to their previous level.

President Saied may have wanted two things from this decision, the first of which is to defeat any Brotherhood plans to distance Tunisia from its Arab surroundings and isolate it so that they can control the country. The second thing is to strengthen and support relations with Syria in all fields, especially related to combating terrorism. After the outbreak of the Syrian war and the emergence of a number of terrorist groups on the scene, Tunisia witnessed waves of thousands of Tunisian youth being deported to hotbeds of tension, including Syria, under political cover, and this is the case in which the head of the Ennahda movement, Rachid Ghannouchi, is accused.

Accordingly, the decision to restore Tunisian-Syrian relations aims primarily at consolidating cooperation between the two countries to “dismantle the terrorist system” that has roiled not only in both countries but in the entire Arab region, which has been exploited by some Islamist currents that claim jihad in the name of religion, headed by the Brotherhood. Therefore, the reconciliations taking place in the countries of the Arab region may be a blow to the leaders of the group in these countries who want to exploit any events of chaos to appear on the scene.

Fatal blow to the Brotherhood

In this regard, Hesham El-Naggar, a researcher in the affairs of Islamist groups, said that there is a great impact in view of the importance of these two arenas for the Brotherhood during the past decade in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolutions. Tunisia was the cradle of these revolutions, and it has an important, strong, and influential wing of the Brotherhood that has its influence, presence, and vital activity not only in Tunisia, but also in the region. In addition, Syria has been central to the Brotherhood project during the last stage in order to reach its goals of empowerment and domination of the reins of power in the Arab region, where overthrowing the Syrian regime and empowering the Syrian Brotherhood branch is a priority for the group’s international organization and its regional supporters.

Naggar pointed out in a special statement to the Reference that we are currently witnessing the results of the fall of the Brotherhood project in these two arenas, affected by its fall in the center in Egypt and the ongoing regional transformations and the failure of Brotherhood alliances with the network of terrorist organizations in Egypt and the region, especially with ISIS and al-Qaeda. This was followed by a Gulf-Qatari reconciliation, a Qatari-Egyptian rapprochement, and then a settlement project between Egypt and Turkey, which culminated in the preparation for the return of Syria to the Arab embrace and the intensification of the strengthening of Arab relations, which represents the culmination of the fatal blows to the Brotherhood and deepens its Arab and regional turmoil.