9 December marked the first anniversary of the HTS forces entering Damascus without encountering any resistance and the establishment of Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule in Syria. This event also caused a major upheaval in Turkey's domestic and foreign policy, ushering in a whole new era. The negotiations with the PKK and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan that is at the top of the political agenda in Turkey is indissociably linked to the regime change in Syria. In the heat of the event RedMed analysed the historical process that led to this extraordinary development and made a thorough analysis of the possibilities for the future at the beginning of January 2025, out Turkish web site exposing the "coat-and-tie takfirism" of the new regime. Since then, we have covered every new and important development in this domain.
On the first anniversary of the overthrow of the Baath regime and of the establishment of the new takfiri regime, we will focus on just one point, but a very important one: we will reveal, with evidence, how the new al-Sharaa regime was established as a result of a British-American operation.
“Rebranding”
As is well known, in 2017, as a result of the tripartite agreement between Russia, Iran and Turkey, known as the Astana Process, a number of takfiri organisations at war with the Syrian Baath regime were isolated but also placed under protection in the Idlib province in northern Syria, close to the Turkish border. The most powerful of these organisations was Al-Nusra, which had pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda for a time. In 2016, this organisation broke away from Al-Qaeda and changed its name to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, meaning Organisation for the Liberation of Syria). It was led by a takfiri named Muhammad al-Jolani.
In 2017, when the agreement on Idlib was made, HTS controlled 50 per cent of Idlib, but by 2019, it had taken control of the entire region. The AKP government was keeping the forces in the region, and HTS in particular, afloat with a view to using them against Assad one day, but the fact that all these organisations were classified as "terrorist" by the imperialist system made it difficult to use them.
Dareen Khalifa, an author at the International Crisis Group who has written extensively on this subject and has met with al-Jolani from time to time since January 2020, argues that between 2017 and 2019, the organisation embarked on a “rebranding” exercise, using a term frequently employed in the "crisis resolution" sector. According to the framework Khalifa puts forth, the most prominent dimensions of the new “brand” are complete independence from the command chains of al-Qaeda and ISIS, the transformation of HTS into a local organisation confined to Syria, the prominence of the idea of Syrian nationalism, and thus a complete break from a "transnational Islamic agenda".
Turkey has played a significant role in HTS becoming a "nationally confined" organisation, thus breaking away from international takfiri Islamist organisations, but according to Khalifa, Turkey is, at that stage, reluctant to use the HTS on its own in Syria, as it fears this would be interpreted in the West as "whitewashing and supporting jihadists".
In other words, Turkey has rebranded and repackaged the commodity, but there are no purchasers yet. The purchasers will be found in early 2021.
Jonathan Powell enters the stage from the side
The National Security Adviser to the current Labour Party government in the UK since November 2024 is Jonathan Powell, a longtime servant of British imperialism. Powell is a civil servant who assumed the position of Chief of Staff for Tony Blair between 1997 and 2007. The latter was famously despised as being George W. Bush's "lapdog" and now serves as Trump's lackey in Gaza, although the Arab states seem to be refusing to work with him.
Powell's relationship with Syria is not limited to being a loyal servant of Britain, the most active power in West Asia (the Middle East) alongside the US. There is a very old family connection. His brother, Lord Charles Powell, has been a long-standing member of the board of trustees of the Said Foundation, established by an Anglo-Syrian businessman and "philanthropist" named Said Wafik. This has given Powell extensive knowledge of Syria, as well as close ties to the community of British businessmen of Syrian origin. It has been reported that Powell visited Syria twice after al-Jolani came to power, but the al-Sharaa regime denies this.
It has also been reported that Powell visited al-Jolani in Idlib in 2021, before al-Sharaa came to power. Russia's long-established TASS agency states categorically, based on intelligence sources, that Powell met with al-Jolani in Idlib in May 2021.
Some may not trust TASS. We will see shortly that even if Powell himself did not go to Idlib, an organisation under his control has been meeting with al-Jolani since 2020. There can be no doubt about this latter fact.
Before moving on from the TASS report, let us note that this source also claims that Powell is a member of MI6, the UK's foreign intelligence service, without being able to ascertain how accurate this latter claim is.
International Crisis Creation Group
In the Western world, certain "civil society organisations" step in during difficult times to carry out tasks in the fields of international politics and diplomacy that imperialist states themselves, or even their intelligence agencies, cannot undertake directly. One of the most famous of these is the International Crisis Group.
This organisation was briefly mentioned above. Its operative, Dareen Khalifa (under normal circumstances, she could have been called its “columnist” or its “expert” etc., but in the context of the picture we will describe shortly, we believe this designation is more appropriate), is probably the person who has written the largest number of articles on Idlib, al-Jolani, and the relationship between the UK and the US with them. When al-Sharaa visited New York in September 2025 to speak on behalf of Syria at the United Nations, the New York Times, a newspaper renowned for gathering the best intelligence information in that city and the world, prepared a very comprehensive article about him. The article’s main source was Dareen Khalifa.
The name of Khalifa’s organisation is “International Crisis Group”. We referred to it as the "crisis creation group" in the subtitle above for the following reason: The claim of such organisations is that they will resolve local conflicts, wars, occupations, etc., through “peaceful methods”. However, since these solutions often bear no trace of justice, equality, or freedom, they open the door to entirely different crises in the future. In other words, what they do is put an end to one crisis while laying the basis to another or many others.
The International Crisis Group began commissioning Dareen Khalifa articles on Syria and Idlib in 2020 (a list of the articles published is provided at the end of this piece), and since 2021, it has repeatedly sent its operative to Idlib to meet with al-Jolani and others. Why? Because it is highly probable that a rebranding operation was communicated to one of the most powerful leaders of this "civil society organisation," and it was whispered to his or her ear that the involvement of the US and the UK would be beneficial in this context.
We now come to the crux of the matter. The founder of the International Crisis Group is Morton Abramowitz. Some in Turkey will recognise this name immediately, but probably only those from the older generations. Abramowitz was US Ambassador to Turkey between 1989 and 1991. He did not lose interest in Turkey afterwards. Together with Marc Grossman, who also served somewhat later as US Ambassador to Turkey (1995-1997), he visited the country many times in the 2000s. He tested the waters for the implementation of a staunchly Zionist policy in Israel’s relations with Turkey, engaged in public relations activities, infiltrated into and gained influence within Turkey's NGOs, including “left-wing” ones. This service earned him the praise of prominent “left-wing” civil society figures.
Dareen Khalifa, the operative of the International Crisis Group founded by this powerful figure, acted as an envoy between al-Jolani and the US State Department and intelligence agencies. Articles signed by Dareen Khalifa actually bear Abramowitz's political stamp. Each one is a petition for the American government to take al-Jolani under its wing.
Abramowitz passed away on 29 November 2024, just ten days before the International Crisis Group finally achieved victory in Syria on 9 December 2024. What irony of fickle fate!
Jonathan Powell again
The reader may have asked the following question when Morton Abramowitz entered the picture: where do the above statements about the role of Jonathan Powell, lifelong servant of the imperialist state of Britain, in al-Jolani's transformation into al-Sharaa fit in with the role of Abramowitz and his organisation? Is there a connection between them? Or did their efforts proceed through separate channels?
If we expand our knowledge of Powell a little further, it becomes easier to understand the relationship. Powell's relationship with Syria was not limited to his brother's role in the Said Foundation. There was another channel, this time a backdoor channel. Together with another Englishman named Martin Griffiths, he founded Inter Mediate, a "charity" (!) working on negotiation and diplomacy issues. (The words "inter" and "mediate" combined mean "to act as a mediator".) Martin Griffiths, coincidentally, was also the founder and former director of another "civil society organisation" called the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, based in Geneva.
Now we come to the most sensitive point. When Morton Abramowitz's envoy from the International Crisis Group, Dareen Khalifa, made her first visit to al-Jolani in 2020, who went along with her? An operative from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva! Moreover, this information has been provided by Khalifa herself. Undeniable!
By presenting evidence for everything we have said so far and citing our sources, we have demonstrated that al-Jolani established relations with imperialist states thanks to the "rebranding" tactic suggested to him by Turkey. The fact that Britain and America entered into a partnership at the final stage does not mean that both adopted this strategy at the same time. In our view, Powell, an agent of British imperialism, probably entered into the "rebranding" operation on al-Jolani earlier but at some point convinced America, still the hegemonic power today, to join in. That moment was early 2021, when both organisations visited al-Jolani together. Had Britain not been the power that established the relationship earlier and set the game in motion in all its dimensions, the German and French Foreign Ministers would not have rushed to Damascus on 3 January, less than a month after al-Jolani came to power while British Foreign Secretary David Lammy delayed such a visit until 5 July, precisely six months after his EU counterparts! Britain was in no hurry because the most important visit had already been made: Jonathan Powell had already visited al-Sharaa (see above).
As a result, Powell, the agent of the more experienced imperialist country, Britain, reversed the scenario in the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by the great British novelist Robert Louis Stevenson and turned the even more terrifying al-Jolani back into the respectable Dr Jekyll, namely Ahmed al-Sharaa.
This tie-wearing, suit-clad takfirism was dressed up at Harrods, London's famous luxury store.
Conclusion
9 December marks the day al-Jolani entered Damascus and became al-Sharaa. The rise to power of this takfiri has been widely equated with Syria's liberation. The imperialist Western world, including its statesmen, so-called "think tanks," its media, and most respected political authors, paid their tribute to al-Sharaa. Meanwhile, certain organisations that called themselves "revolutionary" and spoke incessantly of the "Syrian revolution" after the civil war began in 2012 continued to use this term unabashedly and unapologetically.
The above picture clearly shows that exactly one year ago, in a process dominated by imperialism in the foreground and Zionism in the background, a takfiri in disguise was placed at the helm of Syria. This takfiri allowed Anglo-American imperialism to have a say on his own future even before coming to power, precisely in order to gain power. El-Sharaa is well aware that Trump's affection for him as a "tough guy" will evaporate at the slightest mistake he makes against Israel. Hakan Fidan and İbrahim Kalın, Turkish foreign minister and intelligence chief respectively, are undoubtedly aware of this, too.
Imperialism has seized a brand new and very important position in Western Asia (the Middle East). Its ultimate goal is to drag Syria and Turkey into war with Iran, the "Shiite enemy." Anyone who serves this game will have sent this country's youth to their deaths and put its future in grave danger. What is approaching is not the peace some have heralded but an infernal war.
Articles by International Crisis Group operative Dareen Khalifa on al-Jolani and al-Sharaa (up to 15 May 2025)
What Next for Syria after Trump Lifts Sanctions? (15 May 2025)
How Israel’s Overreach in Syria May Backfire (17 March 2025)
Turkey’s tightrope in post-Assad Syria (3 February 2025)
https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/turkiye-syria/turkeys-tightrope-post-assad-syria
Key Decisions Loom as Syria Enters a New Era (14 January 2025)
Turkey's Syria Policy after Erdoğan's Win (20 July 2023)
Normalising Relations with Syria: How Significant? (29 June 2023)
A Vital Humanitarian Mandate for Syria’s North West (5 July 2022)
Shades of Jihad in Syria (20 May 2022):
https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/syria/shades-jihad-syria
The Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine in the Middle East and North Africa (14 April 2022)
A Death In Idlib: The Killing of the Top ISIS Leader and Its Impact (4 February 2022)
How Islamist Militants Elsewhere View the Taliban’s Victory in Afghanistan (27 October 2021)
In Syria’s Idlib, Washington’s Chance to Reimagine Counter-terrorism (3 February 2021)
The SDF Seeks a Path Toward Durable Stability in North East Syria (25 November 2020)
Deadly Clashes in Syria’s Idlib Show Limits of Turkey’s Options (29 February 2020)
The Jihadist Factor in Syria’s Idlib: A Conversation with Abu Muhammad al-Jolani (20 February 2020):
Are There Alternatives to a Military Victory in Idlib? (18 September 2019)