After Daesh, Ankara to target former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria

Abu Mohamad al-Golani, the leader of the Syrian Islamist rebel group Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham. (Reuters file)

ANKARA: Turkey will target Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (JFS) after eradicating Daesh, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Targeting JFS, Al-Qaeda’s former affiliate in Syria, constitutes the “real pillar” of the ongoing Russian-Turkish operation in rebel-held Idlib province, he added.
“After Daesh, the real issue will be local terrorist groups” such as JFS, said Erdogan.
“Some will retreat, while others will go away completely. We want locals to return to their territories in Iraq and Syria. We urge moderate opposition groups, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), to stake a claim on their lands.”
Since July, Idlib has been dominated by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham terrorist alliance, which includes JFS.
In line with the Astana peace talks, Turkey and Russia are working together to maintain a cease-fire between the Syrian regime and opposition groups in Idlib, and to clear the province of terrorist groups.
“The disappearance of Daesh raises the question of other actors in Syria,” Salih Bicakci, a Middle East expert at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, told Arab News.
“From the beginning, all intervening states were trying to establish a government with moderate opposition actors, but JFS wasn’t on the list. Former Daesh fighters are now joining JFS.”
Ankara is willing to have a permanent presence in Idlib to prevent the formation of a Kurdish state, Bicakci said. To that end, Turkey is planning to maintain good relations with Russia and Iran, he added.
“It’s also possible to read Erdogan’s latest statement from another angle, as Ankara wants to see the FSA as a remarkable actor with which it has effective communication on the ground.”
Turkey’s decision to target JFS post-Daesh does not signify a change in its priorities, as eliminating Syrian affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) remains its ultimate goal, Bicakci said.
“But Turkey’s struggle against Kurdish groups depends on its relations with Russia,” he added.
Analysts warn that taking on JFS and affiliated groups in Syria could be risky and costly due to their battlefield capabilities and in terms of Turkey’s domestic security.
“If Ankara is decisive in its struggle against JFS, it means Turkish counterterrorism police have to be on high alert,” Bicakci said.
On Wednesday, Turkish police detained 15 people on suspicion of recruiting for JFS and financially supporting it.
Following the operation, which took place in the cities of Istanbul, Agri, Van and Hatay, four suspects were arrested.
On Monday, a JFS-affiliated militant was detained in a refugee camp in the southeast province of Hatay, bordering Syria.