Will Damascus work with Trump to help “dismantle Hezbollah and Hamas”?

In recent weeks, talks between Türkiye, Syria, and the US have accelerated. The developments and statements suggest that certain shared understandings have been reached.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Washington on 10 November and had “warm talks” with Trump.

The Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan made a “surprise” visit to Washington and joined part of the al-Sharaa–Trump meeting.

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, made a few much-discussed remarks in the last period on the relations between Türkiye, Syria and Israel.

UWI author, historian and political scientist, associate professor Mehmet Perinçek shared with us his evaluation of the rapidly evolving developments among the Türkiye–Syria–US–Israel.

Ready to work with the US

It’s also no surprise that Shaybani made these remarks at Chatham House in the UK. After all, Britain’s relationship with HTS goes back to the Idlib period. His visit came after Syrian President Shara’s visit to Washington. Also, warm signals have started coming bidirectionally between Syria and Israel. Netanyahu hinted that “if Shara distances himself from the jihadists around him, why not?”

Let’s return to Shara’s visit to Washington. What did we see there? We saw that the Syrian government, and as it appears the Turkish government as well, are ready to work in alignment with the US to establish a new order in West Asia.

Concrete steps of Trump’s “route”, “peace” and “initiative”

“Trump Route” in the South Caucasus, “Trump Peace” in Palestine, and now the “Trump Initiative” unfolding in Syria have all been fully embraced by Ankara. And now we’re seeing concrete steps being taken in that direction.

In my view, even more striking than Shaybani’s remarks were those of the US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack. Earlier, he had said that we would soon witness an “alignment from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean” between Türkiye and Israel.

Redefinition of Turkish-Syrian-Israeli relations

But the most critical remarks came in his statement on November 13. Two points stand out here. First: “We mapped the next phase of the U.S.–Turkish–Syrian framework: … redefining Turkish-Syrian-Israeli relations, and advancing the alignment.” Second: “Damascus will now actively assist us in confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist networks, and will stand as a committed partner in the global effort to secure peace.” Notice that Hamas, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Hezbollah are explicitly labeled as “terrorist groups.” We’re now beginning to see what that “redefinition” actually means.

To be left without allies

Of course, the US can make statements like these to generate disinformation, create confusion, and sow discord among potentially allied countries against Washington. But days have passed since Barrack made these remarks, and neither Turkish nor Syrian officials have objected. No one said, “Mr. Barrack’s claims are false,” or even offered a softer clarification like, “There must be a misunderstanding in Mr. Barrack’s remarks”.

So, if you adopt a stance that pits you against Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah, and Hamas, the end result is nothing more than falling in line with Israel’s agenda. And without allies by your side, how will you stand up to the threats and aggression coming from the US and Israel?

But the issue isn’t just Israel. The new order being built today in West Asia is not an “Israeli order” or a “Netanyahu order.” It is an American order, a Trump order. In this framework, Israel will of course remain Washington’s closest partner, but the US would also rein Israel in when necessary, slowing it down, trimming its edges, and ensuring it doesn’t clash with other states the US wants inside this new “order”. In the end, this order exists to secure American interests above all else.

So any government that submits to this US-led, Trump-led order, any government that compromises to fit into this order, will inevitably position itself against the region and against the interests of states in the region. This trajectory will seriously undermine Türkiye’s independence and prosperity, Syria’s territorial unity, and Palestine’s struggle for liberation. Unfortunately, this is where things appear to be heading now.

Turkish media: heads in the sand

When Trump or other US officials praise Erdoğan, pro-government newspapers and TV channels blasted those remarks everywhere, repeated them endlessly. But when it comes to Barrack’s statements, there’s complete silence. No comments, no objections, nothing. They are simply swept under the rug. And it’s not just the pro-government media; aside from a few exceptions, the outlets critical of the government behave no differently. They eagerly spotlight Barrack’s text messages from the Epstein case about child exploitation, yet they completely ignore his claim that Türkiye and Syria have reached an understanding with the US. The same thing happened when Barrack talked about “alignment from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean” between Türkiye and Israel. The Turkish media figures buried heads in the sand.

Staying silent in the face of such statements means accepting them. And it means undermining Türkiye’s relations with its real allies. What will Palestinians, Iranians, Lebanese, and the frontline groups defending them think when they read Barrack’s words “actively assist us in confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah…”? How will they view Syria and Türkiye? Will they trust either of them? And will Russia or China trust you?

How did we get to this point?

If Barrack’s statements aren’t true, the Turkish government needs to issue a plain and simple denial. And if they are true, then the Turkish people will absolutely hold the government to account.

Could this trajectory has been reversed, that’s an issue for another talk. But it was already obvious which direction things were headed from Turkish government’s policies. Once you set out to topple Bashar al-Assad together with British intelligence and the US, once you sabotaged the Astana process, once you pushed Iran and Russia out of the equation in Syria and left yourself alone in the face of imperialist pressure, you were already laying the groundwork for the situation we’re in now.

When the collapse of Assad seemed imminent, you said nothing about Israel’s occupation in Syria. This process also led the Druse region to drift completely away from Syria.

And if we look at the Syrian government’s stance, it has consistently had policies to get along with Israel, even mentioning the possibility of cooperating against Iran. It tried to curry favor with Israel, hoping that by pleasing them, it could become partners or at least restrain Israeli aggression. But this was a futile effort. And it failed. You said, “Let’s build a joint security architecture in the region,” and Israel’s response was to strike the General Staff building right next to your presidential palace.

After seeing these results, the al-Sharaa government turned toward Russia, thinking Moscow might serve as a balancing force. But when you do this under American supervision, within the framework of Trump’s new regional plan, such attempts go nowhere. If your strategy is flawed, if you try to rebuild Syria’s unity under “Trump order”, and if you pursue hostility toward Iran while trying to win over Israel, it’s obvious from the outset that nothing good can come of it.

Not about intentions, but about strategy

I’m not talking here about intentions. I’m not analyzing al-Sharaa’s personal motives, his character, or whether he’s being guided by some persons or state, etc. The real question is whether this strategy will actually lead to the reunification of Syria. I talk on the strategic level: yes, the Damascus government might secure some short-term concessions from the US on the YPG issue in exchange for “actively assisting us in confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist networks”. But these would be only tactical gains. If, for the sake of such tactical gains, you accept the “Trump order”, then these concessions ultimately mean nothing in the end.

If you giggle in front of someone who mocks you, asking how many wives you have and poking fun at your culture, then no matter what temporary gains you extract from them, you end up turning your entire country, all of Syria, into a puppet.