Political career
Mustafa was one of the founding members of the Syrian Turkmen Platform,an organization which was founded on 15 December 2012. [7] When the Syrian Turkmen Assembly was founded on May 2013,becoming the successor organization of the Syrian Turkmen Platform, [7] Mustafa applied for membership but was not elected. He was subsequently hired as a party employee. In September 2013,when the Syrian Turkmen Assembly held new internal elections,Mustafa won a seat and was elected Vice president. According to a Syria Direct report,Mustafa's rise in the Syrian Turkmen Assembly and more generally among the Syrian opposition was sponsored by Turkish authorities and by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally. [6]
On May 10 2014,when the Syrian Turkmen Assembly held a new general meeting,Mustafa was elected [8] as president of the party with the majority of votes by 360 delegates. [7] Since his assuming of the presidency,the activities of Mustafa and the assembly have intensified dramatically including the designation of Syrian Turkmen Brigades as the assembly's military wing, [9] official declaration of the Syrian Turkmen flag, [10] more coordinated attacks seeking the benefit of Turkmen and Syrian opposition [11] [12] [13] and stronger coordination and cooperation with US and Turkey on the fight against ISIL on Azaz-Jarabulus line,becoming a key organization among which USA has close ties with and states as the "moderate rebels/opposition". [14] [15]
As president of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly,Mustafa received open support from Turkey but also from the Gulf States,namely,Saudi Arabia (before the split) and Qatar,and from the United States who considered him a part of "the moderate opposition". [7] [16] [17]
Mustafa headed the Syrian Turkmen deletages in the 2016 Geneva peace talks on Syria as an official diplomatic part of the Syrian Opposition.
Once the Syrian National Coalition expanded,the Syrian Turkmen Assembly was allowed to join,increasing the number of Turkmen members among it. In May 2017,Mustafa was elected as Vice president of the Coalition,under president Riad Seif. [6]
Seif's presidency was marked by clashes with Mustafa. When Seif resigned on health grounds ten months after his election,Mustafa succeeded him to end his term. He later won an uncontested election as president. According to a former SNC official,Mustafa was elected at the request of Turkey,who wanted an opposition leader who would be willing to attend the Russian-sponsored peace talks in Sochi. [6]
In September 2019,Mustafa became the head of the Syrian Interim Government. His nomination apparently occurred also at the request of the Turkish government,who had repeatedly asked for the removal of his predecessor Jawad Abu Hatab. According to Syria Direct's report,Anas al-Abdah was initially considered for the post of prime minister of the SIG,but Turkey decided to switch his position with Mustafa's,seeing the latter as more compliant. Mustafa's leadership redefined the relationship between the SNC and the SIG:he refused to relinquish his membership once he assumed the presidency of the SIG,and the SNC was forced to amend its internal rules. Mustafa also rejected the SIG's subordination to the SNC. [6] He was later influential in getting Hadi al-Bahra to return as president of the SNC. [6] [18] Overall,Mustafa played a key role in the SNC's subordination to Turkish interests. [6]
After the fall of the Assad regime,Mustafa announced on 30 January 2025 that the SIG was placing itself "at the disposal" of the new Syrian transitional government. [19]
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