Published: 09:31 AM, 11 December 2025
How Sharaa's close ties with Turkey made him Syrian President
Sharaa's pragmatism and close relationship with Turkey helped open doors, leading to his transformation from jihadist leader to rebel statesman and finally Syrian President, reports the Middle East Eye.
It was the spring of 2019, and Syrian government forces were beginning to push towards Idlib with the help of the Russian Air Force.
There was an emergency.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the commander of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, was sitting with his entourage and some foreign guests, including Turks, at a safe house in the heart of Idlib.
As the night progressed, he opened up, and began sharing some personal stories.
"When I was a child, I once had a dream about my future," he said slowly, with deliberate intensity. "In the dream, I became the Emir of Damascus."
Jolani said the dream was a good omen, a divine clue about his destiny.
Jolani said the dream was a good omen, a divine clue about his destiny.
He believed that the war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be tough but ultimately winnable. Those close to him, including figures with Salafi backgrounds, said he truly believed in that vision.
Nearly five years later, Jolani has dropped his nom de guerre and is the interim president of the Syrian Arab Republic - the "emir" he once dreamed of becoming.
Now going by his birth name Ahmed al-Shaara, the 43-year-old has quickly transformed himself from a "jihadi terrorist" into a statesman.
The change has been stunning, considering his long career in jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda, spanning from Iraq to Syria.
Since ousting the Assad dynasty, Sharaa has warmly embraced world leaders he once eschewed.
He appears publicly with his wife, has trimmed his beard, has dropped his turban and thobe for a suit and tie, all the while trying to build a new state free of overtly Islamist influence.
But how did this transformation happen?
Turkish and regional officials, Syrian sources, experts, and even Syrian government insiders believe that the change had been unfolding gradually throughout his rule in Idlib, a de facto "proto-state" that, in effect, reshaped Sharaa's persona.
"Turkey played a practical role in his transformation," a Turkish official who met him years ago, when he was still the leader of HTS, told Middle East Eye.
