The city of Aleppo and its fortified ancient sites have been captured by many invading armies over the centuries, each bringing different ideas and conceptions of government.
Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, the latest conqueror, was mobbed by supporters waving Syrian revolutionary flags on Wednesday, as he walked down the steps of the citadel.
The rebel leader masterminded a dramatic, surprise assault on Syrian government forces, which led to the capture of Syria’s second-largest city last week.
His group, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its allies have since continued their charge, pushing south towards the city of Hama.
HTS already has experience in governance, dominating an opposition administration in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib since 2017.
That power - and indeed the pursuit of it - has spurred both HTS and Jolani to embark on a transformation over the past decade, though some question how profound that change has been.
Once affiliated to al-Qaeda and its transnational jihad, Jolani has crushed moderate rebel rivals and stood side-by-side with the Islamic State.
Yet today, Jolani and his powerful armed faction affirm their commitment to Syria's diversity and protecting minorities, keen to project an image of respectable national leaders.
Middle East Eye takes a look at the ideology of HTS, and what its rule in Aleppo and beyond could look like.
Break from international jihad
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, known in English as the Committee for the Liberation of the Levant, was created in January 2017 as a merger of several political and military Syrian opposition groups, most of which were guided by some form of ultraconservative jihadist ideology.
Yet at its heart, HTS is the latest rebrand of Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front, a hard-line rebel group founded by Jolani in 2012 to oppose Bashar al-Assad’s rule and turn Syria into a Sunni Islamic state.
In its earliest months, Nusra coordinated with the Iraqi group that would later become the Islamic State (IS). However, in 2013 it pledged its allegiance to al-Qaeda, and Nusra and IS became enemies and rivals.
Over time, the al-Qaeda label began to hang heavy on Nusra, and Jolani began to distance himself from al-Qaeda’s transnational jihadi ideology, expressing a desire for international legitimacy.
Nusra officially broke links with al-Qaeda in 2016, rebranding as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and gradually rooted out elements committed to carrying out attacks outside Syria.
A Syrian Kurdish woman, fleeing from north of Aleppo, holds a child as she waits with others upon their arrival in Tabqa, on the western outskirts of Raqqa, on 4 December 2024 (AFP)
“HTS is a Salafi organisation that is national oriented,” Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, an expert on hard-line groups in the Syrian war, told MEE.
“It is not trying to form a caliphate, like IS or al-Qaeda,” he said, adding that such transnational groups do not believe in the concept of a nation state.
In fact, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham has at times fought the Islamic State, as well as Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaeda-linked group that split from HTS when it began to pursue a more moderate, nationally focused line.
HTS is nonetheless listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the UK.
Salafist ideology
The administration running rebel-held Idlib province, known as the Syrian Salvation Government, is dominated by HTS.
It has used the faction's Salafi principles to impose several conservative social policies.
“The Salvation Government has conservative social norms. While they don’t impose niqab dress on women, they do call on women to wear hijab,” said Tamimi.
Jerome Drevon, an expert on armed groups in Syria, said it was important to note existing practices in the province.
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“Idlib has strong religious norms,” he told MEE. “People are relatively conservative regardless of what HTS does.”
Drevon said that in recent years, there has been mixing between genders in shopping centres and restaurants, something that was not permitted under previous kinds of opposition rule in northwest Syria. The Salvation Government does, however, impose gender segregation in schools.
According to researchers, HTS has sought to distance itself from more rigid forms of Islamic rule associated with previous iterations of the group, including the use of hudud punishment such as flogging and stoning.
Jolani has previously remarked: “Governance should be consistent with Islamic sharia, but not according to the standards of ISIS or even Saudi Arabia.”
It does still take action over incidents that it believes fall outside its interpretation of sharia.
One example came in August, when an event related to the Paralympic Games organised for Idlib’s disabled community was shut down by the Salvation Government, allegedly due to religious jurists deeming acts within the opening ceremony in Paris to be linked to “pagan beliefs”.
The move was condemned by rights groups, with the Syrian Network for Human Rights saying the decision perpetuates the Salvation Government's "restrictive policies against humanitarian groups".
Treatment of minorities
Since its latest offensive, HTS has stated that it will protect religious and ethnic minorities under its rule.
“In the future Syria, we believe that diversity is our strength, not a weakness,” Jolani said on Monday. Recent statements made particular reference to protecting Aleppo’s Christian and Kurdish communities.
However, Nusra was previously accused of several grave human rights violations against minorities.
“Jabat al-Nusra forced members of the Druze minority to convert to Sunni Islam,” said Tamimi. “HTS has maintained that policy; it hasn’t said to Druze people they can go back to their original religion.”
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In June 2015, at least 20 members of the Druze community were killed by Nusra fighters, a massacre that Jolani described as a mistake carried out by a rogue commander.
Two years ago, Jolani visited the Jabal al-Summaq area - whose inhabitants are mostly Druze - in an effort to allay the community's fears. He has also returned some homes that were previously seized from the Druze.
Jolani has made similar overtures towards Christians, some of whom similarly had their houses in Idlib seized.
“HTS have opened up in recent years and organised meetings with Christians and Druze,” said Drevon.
“Some Christians previously had their homes taken over by refugees from elsewhere in Syria. HTS have started to help get some of those homes back.”
Despite reaching out to religious minorities, human rights defenders have said that Christians continue to be discriminated against by the HTS-led government.
Given the large numbers of Christians in Aleppo - estimated to be around 25,000 - there will be a renewed focus on HTS’s treatment of the group. Drevon notes all eyes are now on HTS, "so they will be judged".
“To be more open to religious minorities is a way to send a positive message to communities inside Syria and internationally,” he said.
HTS has also said this week that Kurds, 100,000 of which live in Aleppo city, are “an integral part of the diversity of Syrian identity”, and that it would stand with Kurdish communities.
In fact, many Kurds are more fearful of rebel groups belonging to the Syrian National Army, a Turkey-backed coalition, which has been fighting alongside HTS, as well pushing their own offensive against Kurdish groups over the past week.
'One faction hegemony'
While the Salvation Government in Idlib has delegated some governance to local institutions and foreign aid organisations, such as health and education, it maintains overall control over security and the economy.
Freedom of expression remains severely stifled by HTS, with violence and arbitrary arrests used to crack down on dissenting voices.
“HTS does not believe in democracy,” said Tamimi. “It’s a one-faction hegemonic approach where other factions accept them as the leaders.”
'HTS does not believe in democracy'
- Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, researcher
Tamimi said it was unlikely that HTS would be interested in sharing power, and likened its system of authoritarian rule to the Kurdish-run authorities in the northeast.
“I don’t think this form of governance will change,” added Tamimi. “HTS made the calculation that this form of government helps to preserve law and order and a sense of stability.”
Drevon said that the societies in Aleppo and Hama governorates, which HTS is currently attempting to take control of, are vastly different to Idlib, and would require a more inclusive style of government with the involvement of other groups.
“They are saying they’re ready for that. That’s something which needs to be tested.”
Drevon added that Hama and Aleppo are big cities with little existing HTS presence.
“HTS wouldn't have the means to rule themselves," he said, noting there would be "no alternative but to share and make concessions with existing local administrations”.
