Countries that do not recognize the Baath administration began to give the green light to Assad
When the ISIS problem, which dominated most of the war, was largely eliminated, signals of change began to appear in the approach of first Arab countries and then European countries to Assad and the Baath Party.
Messages came between Ankara and Damascus that the two countries could cooperate “against terrorist organizations” and that they could work with Assad “if the Syrians choose him in democratic elections.”
So that; The intelligence heads of the two countries, Hakan Fidan and Ali Mamluk, met in Moscow in January 2020.
Meanwhile, Arab countries such as Oman, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which want to restrict Iran’s sphere of influence and have already given up supporting the opposition, also reopened their diplomatic representations in Damascus, and some of them sent ambassadors.
A Democratic Party president, Joe Biden, took office in the White House again.
Biden hit Iran-affiliated militia forces that supported Assad in Syria for the first time in February 2021.
As the tenth anniversary of the war approaches, Assad said, “We decided two years ago to develop our army. Of course, we will do this together with the Russian Ministry of Defense.”
Even though he was now dependent on Russia and Iran, he managed to remain in power.
Syria, which was actually divided into three parts, continued to be the scene of a satellite war at the end of the decade.
May 2023 Assad attended the Arab League summit after 12 years and gave a speech
The membership of Syria, one of the founding countries of the Arab League, was suspended at the meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo on 16 November 2011, and the country’s seat was given to the National Coalition of Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces at the summit in Doha on 24 March 2013.
In 2018, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) first reopened its embassy in Damascus.
Then he took the lead in helping the union reopen the doors to Assad.
Arab countries crossed the critical threshold thanks to Saudi Arabia’s change in attitude.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with the Assad government in 2012 and openly advocated the overthrow of Assad by supporting Syrian rebels in the early stages of the war.
The Saudis’ reconciliation with Iran under the mediation of China in April 2023 facilitated the rebuilding of bridges between Riyadh and Damascus.
Positive momentum accelerated Syria’s participation in the summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“We are holding this summit in a turbulent world,” said Assad, adding that “hopes have increased” in the light of rapprochements between Arab states and that these rapprochements “have reached their peak in this summit.”
The diplomatic activity following the decision of Saudi Arabia and Assad’s ally Iran to restart relations had changed the political landscape.
October 2023 Hamas launched the operation against Israel called ‘Aqsa Flood’
The ‘Aqsa Flood Operation’ launched by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, against Israel and the subsequent war waged by Israel on Gaza greatly changed the balance of power in the region.
The operation brought the normalization processes between the Arabs and Israel to a freezing point.
Before this, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco were included in the Abraham Accords with Israel; It was stated that Saudi Arabia was closer to the normalization process than ever before.
However, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge.
Finally, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) defined Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and condemned them.
This was recorded as one of Riyadh’s harshest statements since the beginning of the Gaza war.
Israel’s war on Gaza has expanded with the involvement of Iranian-backed armed groups, who define themselves as the ‘axis of resistance’, in the conflict.
Israel’s intense attacks on Beirut from southern Lebanon weakened Hezbollah and Iranian influence in the region.
Iran was one of the key actors in the survival of the Baath Party in Syria during the civil war.
November 27, 2024 – Groups led by HTS launched an operation called ‘Repel the Attack’
Islamist militant groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which launched an operation called “Repel the Attack” in Syria on November 27 and captured the cities of Aleppo and Hama in a short time, announced that they had captured the capital Damascus on December 8.
In the statement made by opposition forces on television, it was announced that Damascus was “liberated” and the 24-year regime of Bashar Assad was overthrown and all prisoners were released.
It has been reported that Assad has left Syria, but his whereabouts are not yet known.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali announced his readiness to cooperate with “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.”
If the civil war ends in the coming period, the new government will face serious problems, from an almost bankrupt economy to infrastructure problems.
Balancing the demands of different groups that have been in conflict for a long time will be one of these problems.
When the interests of Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Russia and Iran in Syria are added to this, the path to a compromise that will end the civil war in Syria becomes more complicated.
