Golani’s 'golden touch' reshapes Syria and the region

Abu Mohammad al-Golani, Syria's rebel leader, has quite the Midas touch. Everything he has so far touched turned into gold.

Just a week after his lightning advance into Damascus, a move that toppled more than 50 years of the Assad family's rule in Syria, he is being welcomed with open arms.

Once a terrorist

Western nations are extending olive branches to the man they still label a terrorist. The UK and the US, while keeping the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) firmly on its terror list, have cracked the door open for diplomacy.

"HTS remains a proscribed organization, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact as you would expect," British Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Sunday.

The UK also announced a £50 million ($63 million) aid package to help vulnerable Syrian people as “they chart a new course".

Speaking in Jordan after talks with representatives from several Arab countries, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed for the first time of making direct contact with the HTS.

Following suit, France will also send a team of diplomats to Damascus on Tuesday to reestablish contact and "retake possession of our real estate," acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio on Sunday.

The EU, however, has reacted with caution with its new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas saying that they are monitoring the situation to ensure minorities are not persecuted and women’s rights are protected within a unified government that disavows religious extremism.

A fighter walks outside the Turkish Embassy, after fighters of the ruling Syrian body ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 14, 2024. Reuters

Turkey flexes muscle

Closer to home in the Middle East, Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus after 12 years, becoming the first country to do so since the end of Assad’s rule. Ankara, a NATO-member, has also offered military training to Syria, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said.

In footage that reestablished Turkey's influence in the region, we saw Ankara's spy chief Ibrahim Kalin being cruised around Damascus in a black Sedan with Golani in the driver's seat.

Kalin, a close aide of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visited the Syrian capital last week.

Also happening this week on Dec. 19 is the Cairo summit where Erdogan will meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for talks focused on Syria. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to attend the summit.

Qatar comes full-circle

Qatar is also making its presence felt.

A Qatari delegation arrived in Damascus to pave the way for the re-opening of Qatar's embassy in Syria, the Gulf country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

It’s a full-circle moment for Doha, which shuttered its diplomatic presence in 2011 following Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters.

Bahrain, meanwhile, sent Golani a warm letter. "We are fully prepared to consult with you continuously and provide support in regional and international organizations to achieve what is in the interest of the brotherly Syrian people and we look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League," Bahrain's King Hammad al-Khalifa said in the letter released by HTS.

Silence on Israel

Russia, who has granted asylum to Bashar al-Assad following his ouster, is trying to downplay the blow. Russia's Foreign Ministry said it had evacuated some of its diplomatic staff from Syria Sunday.

All of this occurs as Golani stays mum on Israel's continuous airstrikes on Syria. Israeli troops entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.

But Golani says Syria is too “exhausted” to open a new war front.

Israeli military vehicles ride through Syria close to the ceasefire line between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, as seen from Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, December 15, 2024. Reuters

Amid the diplomatic posturing and backroom deals, life in Syria is slowly showing signs of revival. Feel-good stories are popping up everywhere: children returning to school, Christians attending church services, and even pubs cautiously reopening. It’s almost enough to make you forget that the country’s future is being negotiated by a former al-Qaeda affiliate.

For now, Golani’s rise to power is the story of a region recalibrating itself. Whether his touch remains golden—or turns to something less glittering—only time will tell.