Syrian opposition
The Syrian opposition (Arabic: المعارضة السورية al-Muʻaraḍatu s-Sūrīyah, [almʊˈʕaːɾadˤɑtu s.suːˈɾɪj.ja]) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian government.
This article is about Syrian opposition during the Syrian Civil War. For other historic opposition in Syria, see Syrian opposition (disambiguation).
Syrian Opposition
Damascus (claimed)
General Assembly / General Shura Council
15 March 2011
right
The Syrian opposition has evolved since the beginning of the Syrian conflict from groups calling for the overthrow of the Assad government in Syria and who have opposed its Ba'athist government.[5] Prior to the Syrian Civil War, the term "opposition" (Arabic: المعارضة) had been used to refer to traditional political actors, for example the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change; that is, groups and individuals who have had a history of dissidence against the Syrian state.[6]
The first opposition structures to form in the Syrian uprising were local protest-organizing committees. These formed in April 2011, as protesters graduated from spontaneous protests to protests organized by meetings beforehand.[7]
The Syrian uprising phase, from March 2011 until the start of August 2011, was characterized by a consensus for nonviolent struggle among the uprising's participants.[8] Thus the conflict could not have been yet characterized as a "civil war", until army units defected in response to government reprisals against the protest movement.[9][10] This occurred 2012, allowing the conflict to meet the definition of "civil war."[11]
Opposition groups in Syria took a new turn in late 2011, during the Syrian Civil War, as they united to form the Syrian National Council (SNC),[12] which has received significant international support and recognition as a partner for dialogue. The Syrian National Council was recognized or supported in some capacity by at least 17 member states of the United Nations, with three of those (France, United Kingdom and the United States) being permanent members of the Security Council.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
A broader opposition umbrella group, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, was formed in November 2012 and has gained recognition as the "legitimate representative of the Syrian people" by the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) and as a "representative of aspirations of Syrian people" by the Arab League.[19] The Syrian National Coalition was subsequently considered to take the seat of Syria in the Arab League, with the representative of Bashar Al-Assad's government suspended that year. The Syrian National Council, initially a part of the Syrian National Coalition, withdrew on 20 January 2014 in protest at the decision of the coalition to attend the Geneva talks.[20] Despite tensions, the Syrian National Council retained a degree of ties with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. Syrian opposition groups held reconciliation talks in Astana, Kazakhstan in October 2015.[21] In late 2015, the Syrian Interim Government relocated its headquarters to the city of Azaz in North Syria and began to execute some authority in the area. In 2017, the opposition government in the Idlib Governorate was challenged by the rival Syrian Salvation Government, backed by the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
A July 2015 ORB International poll of 1,365 adults across all of Syria's 14 governorates found that about 26 percent of the population supported the Syrian opposition (41 percent in the areas it controlled), compared to 47 percent who supported the Syrian Arab Republic's government (73 percent in the areas it controlled), 35 percent who supported the Al-Nusra Front (58 percent in the areas it controlled), and 22 percent who supported the Islamic State (71 percent in the areas it controlled).[22] A March 2018 ORB International Poll with a similar method and sample size found that support had changed to 40% Syrian government, 40% Syrian opposition (in general), 15% Syrian Democratic Forces, 10% al-Nusra Front, and 4% Islamic State (crossover may exist between supporters of factions).[23]
Background[edit]
Syria has been an independent republic since 1946 after the expulsion of the French forces. For decades, the country was partially stable with a series of coups until the Ba'ath Party seized power in Syria in 1963 after a coup d'état. The head of state since 1971 has been a member of the Assad dynasty, beginning with Hafez al-Assad (1971–2000). Syria was under emergency law from the time of the 1963 Syrian coup d'état until 21 April 2011, when it was rescinded by Bashar al-Assad, Hafez's eldest surviving son and the current President of Syria.[24]
The rule of Assad dynasty was marked by heavy repression of secular opposition factions such as the Arab nationalist Nasserists and liberal democrats. The biggest organised resistance to the Ba’athist rule has been the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood; which successfully capitalised on the widespread Sunni resentment against the Alawite hegemony. Syrian Ikhwan was inspired by the Syrian Salafiyya movement led by Muhammad Rashid Rida, an influential Sunni Islamic theologian who is respected as their Imam. In line with the teachings of Rashid Rida, the Muslim Brotherhood advocates the replacement of the Ba’ath party rule with an Islamic state led by an Emir elected by qualified Muslim delegates known as Ahl al-Hall wa-al-‘Aqd. The Islamic government should implement laws based on sharia (Islamic law) with the assistance of ulema who are to be consulted on solving contemporary challenges. The power of the ruler is also to be checked by the provisions laid out in an Islamic constitution through shura (consultation) with the Ahl al-Hall wa-al-‘Aqd. Assad regime introduced Law No. 49 in 1980 which banned the movement and instituted death penalty of anyone accused of membership in the Brotherhood. In response, the Syrian Islamic Front was established the same year to topple the Assadist military dictatorship through an armed revolution. The Front got widespread support from the traditional Sunni ulema and the conservative population; enabling the Syrian Ikhwan al-Muslimeen to rise as the most powerful opposition force by the 1980s.[25][26]
As the revolutionary wave commonly referred to as the Arab Spring began to take shape in early 2011, Syrian protesters began consolidating opposition councils.
History[edit]
The Istanbul Meeting for Syria, the first convention of the Syrian opposition, took place on 26 April 2011, during the Syrian civil uprising. There followed the Antalya Conference for Change in Syria or Antalya Opposition Conference, a three-day conference of representatives of the Syrian opposition held from 31 May until 3 June 2011 in Antalya, Turkey.
Organized by Ammar al-Qurabi's National Organization for Human Rights in Syria and financed by the wealthy Damascene Sanqar family, it led to a final statement refusing compromise or reform solutions, and to the election of a 31-member leadership.
After the Antalya conference, a follow-up meeting took place two days later in Brussels, then another gathering in Paris that was addressed by Bernard Henri Levy.[27] It took a number of further meetings in Istanbul and Doha before yet another meeting on 23 August 2011 in Istanbul set up a permanent transitional council in form of the Syrian National Council.[28]
Initially, the Free Syrian Army was perceived as the ultimate military force of the Syrian Opposition, but with the collapse of many FSA factions and emergence of powerful Islamist groups, it became clear to the opposition that only a cooperation of secular military forces and moderate Islamists could form a sufficient coalition to battle both the Syrian Government forces and radical Jihadists such as ISIL and in some cases al-Nusra Front.
In 2014, the military forces associated with the Syrian Opposition were defined by the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council, which in turn was mainly relying on the Free Syrian Army (with links to Syrian National Coalition) and the Islamic Front (Syria). Members of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council:
Other rebel fighting forces: