The United Arab Emirates (UAE) expresses deep concern over Syria's new leadership following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, citing distrust of political Islam and worries about Turkey's growing influence.
The United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) is deeply suspicious of Syria's new leaders, reflecting its distrust for political Islam and fear of outsized Turkish influence in the war-scarred country, analysts say. Having cultivated strong ties with Bashar al-Assad, Abu Dhabi's standing in Syria was dealt a heavy blow by the longtime leader's ouster this month at the hands of a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( HTS ).
Considered a terrorist organization by several Western governments, HTS has sought to moderate its rhetoric and pledged to protect the country's religious minorities, though it is unlikely the UAE's leaders are fully convinced. 'I'm sure they are displeased to see the revival of popular Sunni forces at least reminiscent of the Arab uprisings' that began in 2011, said Kristin Diwan of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, D.C. 'The easy partnership of Qatar and Turkey only reinforces that apprehension,' she added. Both Qatar and Turkey, which backed the anti-Assad opposition, have moved to reopen embassies in Damascus in the aftermath of Assad's flight to Moscow. Turkey has long maintained a working relationship with the HTS rebels, leaving it with a direct line to Damascus. The UAE, by contrast, had championed restoring ties with Assad in the years before his downfall, a stance that paved the way for his reintegration into the Arab League last year. 'Until last week, the UAE was obviously the most important interlocutor for anything to do with Syria,' said Andreas Krieg, a security specialist at King's College London. With its Syria policy in tatters, 'what we see now is that their sort of ideological rivals in this counter-revolution, which were Turkey and Qatar, are... emerging as the key broker in this.''Quite worrying' Like its Gulf neighbors, the UAE has been quick to warn about the risk of 'chaos' in Syria and to voice concern over HTS' Islamist ties
SYRIA UAE HTS TURKEY QATAR POLITICAL ISLAM
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