In an un-expected turn of events Bashar al-Assad left Syria on Dec 8th‚ ending his familys 54-year control over the nation. The change happened quick — just 12 days after opposition groups started their push near Aleppo which made regime defense-lines fall one-by-one
The world didnt see this coming: most countries had given up on Syrian change and even welcomed Assad back into regional politics last year (when Arab League restored his membership). The truth is that while everyone thought the regime was getting stronger it was actually falling apart from inside
The fast changes made Qatar host quick high-level talks where Saudi-Arabia Egypt Jordan Iraq and Qatar ministers tried to catch up with events: their calls for cease-fire became old news in hours. Meanwhile UN special-envoy Geir Pedersen started working with Russia Iran Turkey and western countries to make plans based on old peace deals
We welcome international support but we dont need them to make a process we are already doing
On-the-ground events moved fast: south Syrian fighters took Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali (prime minister) to Damascus Four Seasons hotel. Then Abu Mohammed al-Jolani from HTS went to Umayyad Mosque to say they won. In coastal areas people broke Assad statues
- Local councils run many towns
- Religious groups control some areas
- State offices still work in places
The big problem now is different ideas about what comes next — local groups want to manage things their way but international players try to make their own plans. Before making new plans for Syrias future UN and regional officials should listen to people who are already changing things on the ground