US had ‘direct contact’ with HTS: Blinken

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States has made “direct contact” with Syria’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday, despite the group being designated as terrorists by Washington and other Western nations.

“We've been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken told journalists in Jordan’s Aqaba.

HTS led a lightning-quick offensive against the Syrian army, seizing the northern cities of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs before capturing the capital Damascus as Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule in less than two weeks and bringing the country’s 13-year long civil war to an end.

The former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, HTS is the prominent force among dozens of rebel factions. The group has long controlled a rebel enclave in the northwestern province of Idlib. It was designated a terrorist organization by the US in 2018 and the European Union in 2020.

Blinken did not give details on how the contact took place, but reiterated that there was “direct contact.”

He said they were partly motivated by the search for American journalist Austin Tice who has been missing in Syria since 2012.

“We have pressed upon everyone we've been in contact with the importance of Austin Tice and bringing him home,” Blinken said, adding that they have “shared principles” with the HTS during their dialogue.

The US diplomat is on a regional tour, his first since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. He also took part in talks with Arab, Turkish, and European diplomats Aqaba.

Earlier on Tuesday, Blinken met with United Nations Syria envoy Geir Pedersen to discuss the latest developments in Syria.

“Our determination to work together to support a Syrian-led transition where the United Nations plays a critical role, particularly when it comes to the provision of assistance, to the protection of minorities, to all the work that needs to happen going forward,” Blinken said ahead of the meeting with Pedersen.

Pedersen stressed the need to ensure the continued functioning of Syria’s state institutions.

“We need to make sure that state institutions do not collapse and that we get humanitarian assistance as quickly as possible,” he said.

The collapse of the regime marked a new start in Syria’s history. The HTS-led groups established a transitional government led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir who has promised a future Syrian state that guarantees the rights of all its citizens. 

Role of the SDF

On the role of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) going forward, Blinken said that it is important they continue fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), and this was also discussed with Turkey.

Ankara is opposed to the Kurdish-led SDF and accuses it of affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“I’ve discussed with our colleagues in Turkey and discussed with others, it’s very important in this moment that it be able to continue in that role, because this is a moment of vulnerability in whish ISIS will seek to regroup, taking advantage of the transition in Syria,” Blinken said.

Following the outbreak of clashes in Syria, ISIS seized the opportunity to grab more land in the central deserts. 

Turkey on the other hand, does not want any presence of the SDF in Syria.

During a joint press conference with Arab foreign ministers in Jordan’s Aqaba on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan repeated the need to remove the PKK from Syria, and doubled down on Ankara’s position that the “territorial integrity and unity of Syria must be protected under all circumstances.”

“We can never allow terrorism to take advantage of the transitional period. We have to coordinate our efforts and learn from the mistakes of the past. Any misstep will lead to irregular migration flow,” Fidan said, referring to the SDF.

“The PKK, for the last 10 years, have taken advantage of the chaotic environment in Syria. So they have been disguising themselves within the ranks of the SDF and we have to take them out of, we have to fight against PKK terrorism wherever they are,” he added.

Fidan noted that Ankara believes that Syrian Kurds must be separated from the PKK.

 

Updated at 10:56 pm