Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of the Syrian capital Damascus on 8 December as a result of the attacks it launched on 26 November 2014. The fact that HTS is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda and has a strict religious ideology does not inspire confidence among the people of Syria, especially women, and harbours many dangers. Despite the efforts of the West to portray HTS leader Ahmed al-Shara (known as Abu Muhammad Colani) as a ‘moderate’ and ‘democrat’, the practices of the past two months have revealed the mentality that is hostile to peoples of different faiths and women. 

 

Shara, whose beard was shortened and dressed in a suit with the image of "change", declared himself the president of Syria in the transitional period at the "Victory Conference" held on 29 January. With this declaration, the Constitution was abolished, the parliament was dissolved, the Ba'ath Party and all parties were closed down, the army and security units of the Assad government, as well as the military and civilian organisations established during the civil war were dissolved. The step-by-step implementations have justified the concerns and worries expressed. While oppression, looting and massacres were carried out against Alawites and Durzis, many names who committed war crimes were appointed to important positions such as minister, general and governor.

 

HTS'S VIEW OF WOMEN

 

Another group targeted by HTS along with minority groups was women. The viewpoint of HTS, which has a strict religious ideology, ignoring women and seeing them as property, has been realised through practical applications. Although Shara, who is ideologically based on men and Sharia, stated in his statements to the foreign press that the government to be established in Syria and the form of administration would be shaped in accordance with the history and culture of the country, the practices were oriented towards an Islamic State governed according to Sharia law.

 

Shara, who was travelling around Damascus in the first days of the takeover, demanded that a young woman who approached him and wanted to take a photo with him cover her head. HTS spokesperson Ubeyde Albanian said that some tasks were "incompatible with the biological and psychological structure" of women. Thus, efforts to intervene in the lives of millions of Syrian women under Sharia law have begun.

 

AKP MODEL WILL BE APPLIED

 

On 22 December, the interim administration established after the overthrow of the Ba'ath regime appointed Aisha al-Dibs Seyidoglu as the head of the Women's Affairs Office. The fact that Ayşe al-Dibs Seyidoğlu is a dual citizen of Turkey and Syria is also a striking detail. Ayşe el-Dibs Seyidoğlu, who has lived in Turkey for years and was the president of the Syrian Associations Platform established by Syrians who took refuge in Turkey, gave her first interview to Yeni Şafak. Ayşe el-Dibs Seyidoğlu, who previously worked in refugee camps in Idlib, said that the AKP's policies will be implemented in Syria.

 

While Şara, who stated in his statements that he was in favour of women's participation in education, was boasting about the universities in Idlib, on 2 January, changes in the primary and secondary education curricula came to the agenda. The changes mainly focussed on two subjects. The first was religious issues, and the second was Syria's history, present and women throughout the ages, starting from Queen Zenubiya of Palmyra. With the new curriculum, Christians and Jews are targeted, all scientific thought, Queen Zenubiya, who is a historical symbol for Syrians, and the names of Syrian personalities have been removed from the curriculum.

 

ROLE OF WOMEN DESTROYED

 

In a statement, the Zenubiya Women's Community said, "We strongly protest against the recent changes in the education programme by the Minister of Education of Syria's interim administration. This is destroying our culture and history and destroying the role of women in building civilisations. With this change, the role and name of prominent Syrian women, including Queen Zanubiya, a symbol of persistence and resistance, is being eliminated. This is not just forgetting some names, but forgetting and losing the history of Syria."

 

On 3 January, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Syria with her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot. Welcoming them, Shara shook hands with the French Foreign Minister and left the hand of the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in the air.

 

A video was shared on virtual media showing a group walking through neighbourhoods of Aleppo, calling on women to wear hijab (headscarf) through loudspeakers. In the predominantly Christian neighbourhoods of Eziziye and Silêmaniye, a group shouted "Hijab Hijab O Ummah of Allah" and "Allah-u Akbar" through loudspeakers.

 

In Hama, a group called "Banga Xêrê Kirin" distributed brochures and books, one of which read "He who blasphemes Allah must be killed". A group of 25 women called Hijab Propagation Initiative distributed 100 Islamic clothes in Hama.

 

MURDERERS OF WOMEN 

 

Videos surfaced on cyberspace showing HTS Justice Minister Shadi al-Waysi reading the death sentence during the execution of two women in Idlib. HTS management acknowledged the authenticity of the videos in which the verdict was read before the public execution of two women.

 

WAR CRIME IN REPORTS

 

Since 2017, HTS has been in control in Idlib and has been accused of war crimes in several United Nations (UN) reports. The UN's 2024 report also stated that HTS oppressed women, provided jihad training to students and violently suppressed anti-government demonstrations.

 

The US State Department's report titled "Human Rights in Syria in 2023" included HTS's discriminatory practices such as the clothing ban on women and girls in the areas where the organisation is present, and prohibiting women from filing for divorce or voting. One of the noteworthy details in the report was the prohibition of women living alone and being in public spaces without a male family member.

 

MURDERER OF HEVRÎN XELEF

 

At the conference where Shara declared himself "head of state", Ehmed Ihsan Fayyad al-Hayes (Abu Hatim Sheqra), the head of the paramilitary organisation Ehrar al-Sharqiye, which assassinated the Kurdish politician and Secretary General of the Future of Syria Party Hevrîn Xelef, was also present. This person had previously come to the agenda with the news that he graduated from Mardin Artuklu University under the name of Ahmed İhsan Fayyad El-Hayes. This person, who is remembered with the photographs of him laughing at the head of the security guards of Hevrîn Xelef, who was captured and later murdered, was frequently seen in photographs with Shara after the transfer of power in Damascus to HTS.

 

There are reports that the paramilitary organisation Ehrar al-Sharqiya is building a large prison complex outside Aleppo, where hundreds of people have been executed since 2018. It is also known that this organisation targets prominent business and opposition figures in Idlib and Aleppo and demands ransom from their relatives.

 

"I do not accept that Hevrîn's murderers have a role in the future of Syria. How can murderers, criminals and gangs take part? I condemn the participation of my daughter's murderer in the congress that took place in front of the eyes of the whole world," said Sûad Mistefa, the mother of Hevrîn Xelef.

 

While Zenubiya Women's Community demanded that Hevrîn Xelef's murderers be tried, Kongra Star said, "We do not accept a system led by gangs. The murderers of women must be tried in international courts".

 

The international feminist network Women Living in Muslim Societies (WLUML) also expressed concern that Islamist groups gaining power in Syria could have a negative impact on women's freedoms and the future of the country, restricting women's rights and deepening gender inequality.

 

The Women's Solidarity Network for West Asia and North Africa (WWSN) noted that HTS and the Turkish-affiliated Syrian National Army (SNA) pose a danger to women.

 

WHAT KIND OF SYRIA?

 

Kongra Star, the umbrella organisation for women in North and East Syria, issued the following statement on 8 December, the day HTS took control: "It is essential that women take part and play a leading role in the new constitution for Syria. Women must be the leading and main actors in the construction of the new Syria. Therefore, as the Rojava Kongra Star Assembly, we call on all Syrian women to build a decentralised democratic Syria together."

 

Following this statement, women's organisations held many meetings, workshops and conferences in the region, underlining their desire to take an equal part in the construction of the new Syria and the making of the constitution.

 

MA / Semra Turan