While the world was following the Russia-Ukraine war on one side and the Israeli massacre on the other, the Syrian civil war suddenly flared up. Syrian opposition groups managed to overthrow the Bashar Assad regime in a short period of 13 days. The group that was now in control of the country was led by Hayat Tahrir Sham (HTS). In the new era of Syria, the steps and statements of HTS leader Ahmed al-Shara are being followed with great attention.
Images from Sednaya Prison, the center of torture and cruelty known as Assad’s deathbed, and the mass graves of tens of thousands of people shook the whole world. Speaking to Yeni Şafak, Şera was asked: “Are you thinking of turning Sednaya Prison into a museum?” he was asked. Şera also made statements that would raise the agenda on many topics such as the overthrow of the Assad regime in 13 days, allegations of other countries’ influence in the process, moves to be taken in the new period, relations with Turkey, and the return of Syrians. Here are Şera’s statements…
NEW PLAN FOR SEDNAYA PRISON
Şera said that the Assad regime committed many massacres in Sednaya prison and said:
“As you see in Sednaya Prison, the regime committed many massacres. They killed people and locked them in iron presses, then burned them with acid, then burned them in ovens. And not only Sednaya Prison, there are many missing people, and prison security branches were common in Syria. The regime, He ruled the country by suppressing the people. He used all the security, military and economic institutions to suppress the people, as if he had a blood feud with these people.
Undoubtedly, this prison is a dark stain in the history of the Syrian people. But it was also a beautiful moment when the people who were there were saved. Our first duty is to document these crimes and legally prevent them from happening again. We will work to prosecute everyone responsible for what happened in this prison, especially the torturers. We will also pursue them through the prosecutor’s office and the judiciary inside and outside Syria. We will go after everyone involved in these events, and their assets will be transferred to the Syrian state until they are held accountable. We also have an idea about Sednaya Prison. By preserving this place as a museum and monument. “It needs to be redone as evidence of the regime’s crimes and what it has done to the Syrian people.”
“THE PLAN WAS FOUNDED TO ACHIEVE QUICK SUCCESS”
You started this revolution. Didn’t everything happen too fast? People have a hard time understanding that the Assad regime was overthrown so easily in a short period of 13 days. Was it really easy?
It wasn’t easy at all. First of all, he had a very large army and a lot of weapons. The army was extensively trained. Day and night combat skills have been improved and as you can see we have used modern weapons. But most importantly, it is the will of Almighty Allah, this is his victory. The plan was based on rapid success. A new and unique martial art emerged in this battle. I hope this will be studied in the future and taught as a course in major universities.
RUSSIA, IRAN, USA CLAIMS
It is claimed that an agreement between some countries such as Russia, Iran and even the USA was effective in this rapid result. There are those who say that Iran and Russia in particular have abandoned Assad due to recent developments and that this has been effective in your success. What do you think about this?
No, there was never an agreement. On the contrary, they were rightfully expressing their concern that we should not enter this war. Because everyone was thinking about the heavy bombardment that happened to our people in Gaza and the massacres that our people had experienced in the past. But we intended to do this and we wanted to get rid of this order. Syria was like a total prison. Not only those in Sednaya or other prisons, but the entire population rejoiced as if they had been freed from prison and liberated.
WHAT WILL BE HTS’ PRIORITY?
There was a revolutionary process that you managed until now, but now you have taken over the management in a short time. Are you prepared to rule a state? What will be your priority now?
First of all, you must bring the state mentality, because even though the revolution has become a part of our history that we are proud of, we cannot enter into state construction with the mentality of revolution and opposition. The state must be present within us, and the mind of the state says this: We create strategies and plans. Of course, we work on short, medium and long-term strategic visions. Our first priority is rapid stability and provision of basic services in the country. Primarily security services, such as electricity and food services and fuel. Something that pushes people to live a good life temporarily, and then we work to build a strategic solution to all the problems left by the regime. In the region, we are working on issues such as the reform of the judiciary, the reform of police and security affairs, as well as the reform of the army, at the level of infrastructure, at the level of economy, at the level of social status, at the level of human resources, at the level of state wills. But there are a lot of problems in Syria. The smart thing here is to divide these problems and solve each problem separately. Until we reach more realistic results.
“WE SHOULD PAVE THE WAY FOR SYRIANS TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND”
Your revolution created great excitement throughout the Islamic world. It is a fact that there are many problems and many common areas of suffering in many parts of the Islamic world. But what will be your policy on this issue?
Of course, we are happy about the developments and advancements that revive and serve humanity all over the Islamic world. We have no claim to interfere with other countries or manage changes in other countries. We have just put an end to an tyranny that has inflicted all kinds of oppression on our own people in our own country for years. This in itself is a great blessing for us, but it also places a great responsibility on us. This dictatorship oppressed our people a lot, but it also burned and destroyed the country, killed our people, deported them, dispersed them, and threw them into dungeons. He evaluated the country’s very rich resources only in terms of whether they directly benefited him. He never sought to serve the people, he only sought to rule the people. This situation left an important people and country in history, such as Syria, far behind. Our first priority is to solve the problems of our people, to create conditions that will allow them to live like humans and to develop the country. We have many problems and our main priority right now is to solve these problems. Nearly 12 million of our people have been displaced, and our aim is to pave the way for their safe return to their homes and homelands, as well as for their reintegration into the country. Beyond this, we have no intention of engaging in tasks that are beyond our power and that would distract us from our responsibilities towards our true people, such as solving the problems of the entire Islamic world. We will try to establish and develop our relations with all countries for the benefit of our country.
INTERESTING ANSWER TO THE ‘Türkiye’ QUESTION
What will be your relationship with Türkiye and what is your message to the Turkish people who are always on the side of the revolution? In terms of humanity, they have always stood by the Syrian people who had to escape from the massacres and take shelter in their country. This was a process that continued for 13 years…
As you know, Syrians took refuge in many countries, but the country that embraced and respected them the most was Türkiye. I hope Syria does not forget this kindness. There will be strategic relationships. Turkey has many priorities in the construction of the new Syrian state. There will also be mutual commercial relations. We also trust Turkey to transfer its economic development experiences to Syria. We will preserve social ties. We will share the same moments with love and sincerity, and this victory is not only the victory of the Syrian people, but also the Turkish people. Because the oppressed won against the oppressor, this is the victory of sincere people like the Turkish people.
“SYRIANS WILL RETURN IN MASSES”
Many questions come from our brothers about the return of refugees or our Syrian brothers abroad, especially in Turkey, across the Syrian border. What is the road plan on this issue?
We are now over the hardest part. The Syrian people are deeply attached to their land and it is true that many houses have been destroyed. We have to solve this situation by creating a suitable environment for people to return to their countries and hometowns. We must build first-class residences. Then we have to provide services to them, then develop the economy. I think half of the people will return to Syria en masse.
ANSWERED THE QUESTION ‘SHARIA’
When you arrived, people expected you to interfere with the public life. Some voices from the West think that you will impose “Sharia” in quotation marks on people’s personal lives or daily lives. But we listened to a speech from you about hisbe (commanding good and forbidding evil). What would you say about the difference between your own method and approach compared to people’s perceptions and expectations about you?
I recommend leaving this issue to experts on the subject, and especially to those who know Syrian law well. For those who know the traditions and history of the country. It is not right to rule a country based on personal views. It’s not my place to say “I want to impose this”, I just enforce the law.
“WE HAVE WON A VICTORY WITHOUT VENGEANCE”
When the revolution started, people were surprised, they had some fears about you. There was an expectation that you would inflict violence similar to the violence inflicted on you and take revenge for what was done to you. But what was expected or feared did not happen, and they did not see any revenge, nor did they see any aggression. What did you mean by this, was it an appreciation, what was the philosophy?
First of all, it is something that our religion commands us and our morality commands. We don’t fight to kill, we fight to eliminate injustice for people. We must have Islamic morality, the morality of Muslims. Muslims must act morally while performing their military service, even in the event of war. Many people are innocent. That’s what the regime did, for fourteen years, the regime was bombing our villages, but we don’t go and bomb the villages belonging to the regime. From where? Because they are not guilty of anything. As for the regime, it was deliberately bombing infrastructure, it was deliberately bombing hospitals, it was deliberately bombing homes, children, women, etc. He was deliberately bombing and you could see it on live television. In this revolution, we treated the people with kindness and compassion because essentially the source of our struggle was to liberate the people from injustice. That’s why we tried to guide the fighting youth as much as possible. We were victorious, it is true, but with this victory we showed mercy. We asked God for this. A victory without revenge. The revolutionary mentality can kill, but if it loses its morality, it loses everything. Thanks to humanity and God Almighty, we achieved this task. We received a positive response when others also felt safe. Thus, they felt what a difference there was between the revolution and the regime. If it were the other way around, many crimes would be committed. But it is true that we are the victorious side. Thank God we acted ethically. This was not politics, this was our duty and responsibility.