İbrahim Varlı
The leader of HTŞ in Suriye, Colani’s visit to the White House is one of the most significant outcomes of the US-Israel axis being constructed in the Middle East after 7 October. For the first time since its independence in 1946 a Syrian leader was welcomed at the White House, making it a turning point in every sense. Trump’s reception of Ahmet Şara (Colani) was the formal declaration that Suriye had been bound to the US orbit. Praising Colani, Trump said Suriye would be “a big part of the Middle East peace plan”. Şara also declared that the visit marked the beginning of cooperation with the US, while “New Suriye” was made the 90th member of the international coalition led by the US against ISIS. HTŞ’s Justice Minister Mazhar el Veys approved this decision with the words “sharia-compliant”. Colani’s visit means the collaboration between imperialism and political Islamists has entered a new phase and that a new equation has begun in the Middle East.
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During the Cold War the Middle East was divided between two superpowers. Libya, Suriye and Yemen, where secular Arab nationalist governments were in power, were within the USSR’s sphere of influence. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, ruled by monarchies, were loyal allies of US imperialism. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 all roads began to lead to Washington, the “absolute hegemonic power”. Israel and Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain further solidified their positions within the US axis. Iran, Iraq, Libya and Suriye, left outside the circle, faced crippling sanctions, frequent bombings, overt and covert interventions and routine demonisation. Between 1991 and 2000, when the absolute victory of capitalism and liberalism was proclaimed and “end of history” theses were marketed, the US continued its efforts to impose order on the world without pause.
With the beginning of the 21st century a new period began. The shine of the US-centred liberal world began to fade. After the 2001 attack on the Twin Towers the US put the “Bush doctrine” into effect and entered the Middle East with tanks, rifles and soldiers via the invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq.
The Greater Middle East Project (BOP) emerged in this period. With the announcement of BOP in 2004, the transformation of the region as a whole in line with US-Israel interests was set in motion. As imperialism embarked on a new design in the Middle East its accomplices were “political Islamists”. Political Islamist regimes and actors were put on the scene as useful tools. Produced by the Green Belt, political Islamists, with regimes, governments and non-state actors, became subservient to imperialism, while Iran, Suriye, Yemen and Libya remained obstacles to the US-centred transformation as remnants of the “old period”.
The Arab Spring uprisings that broke out in 2011 became the means for “collective imperialism” led by the US and for Israel to reshape the Middle East. Although Iran’s “axis of resistance” gained power in the early phase of the “bloody spring” and its vast upheavals, the long-term transformation of the Middle East into a blood-soaked minefield served the plans of imperial powers. As the region was upended the US-led coalition split internally. Qatar and Turkey positioned themselves on one side, Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the other. But although things did not go as planned at first, the US controlled both sides and used them toward the same goals.
The blockade imposed on Qatar from 2017 to 2021 was an obstacle to forming a unified front against Iran. But in a rapidly shifting region this temporary barrier was soon overcome and all actors lined up side by side under the US umbrella for the main objective.
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The chaos strategy of the US and Israel worked even if not at the desired pace. Libya, Yemen and Suriye were collapsed from within and dragged into a bloody “proxy war”. In the slow but sure process, the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack became a turning point.
Israel seized the opportunity and launched war against Gaza, Lebanon, Suriye and Iran, putting the bloody scenario into action. Palestinian resistance organisations such as Hamas and Hizbullah were crushed. On 8 December 2024 the Esad government, namely Suriye, was neutralised via HTŞ under Colani’s leadership. With Suriye’s fall Iran was weakened and Russia and China were pushed out of the Middle East. US dominance with Israel began “for now”. After the agreement accepted on the 733rd day of Israel’s Gaza attacks, Trump staged a “peace show” in Sharm El Sheikh on 13 October with leaders by his side and called it “a historic dawn for a new Middle East”.
As of 13 October the first phase of the bloody transformation in the Middle East was over and the second phase officially began. As an outcome of this new phase Colani would be invited to the White House. Before that Şara’s basketball shows with American generals would be served as a public relations exercise.
As New Suriye is integrated into the American system efforts continue for the integration of SDG into Damascus. These are two complementary processes and neither is independent of the other. Şara’s firming up of his loyalty to Washington will also affect Suriye’s Kurds. Şara’s words and his joining the “coalition” will create pressure for the integration of the Suriye Democratic Forces (SDG) into Damascus under the 10 March Agreement.
As Washington tries to strike a balance between Damascus and the SDG it also tries to keep Turkey, the Kurds and the HTŞ administration in line. Colani’s Suriye is one of the US’s most important partners in the Middle East and the SDG is one of its most important partners in Suriye. By extracting certain concessions from both sides it will not want to allow Suriye, one of the central countries in the bloody design of the Middle East, to spoil the overall picture. As Colani’s visit showed, the US is laying the groundwork to stay in Suriye. As Yusuf Karadaş from Evrensel also noted “The visit was a new and important step in tying Suriye, which has positioned itself against the US-Israel axis in the Middle East since the 1956 Suez crisis, to the US axis. Suriye’s joining the ‘Coalition against ISIS’ also gains meaning as a development that opens the way for the US to spread its ISIS fight with the SDG to Suriye and to set up bases.”
The second phase of the US-Israel-centred bloody transformation in the Middle East proceeds by prioritising imperial interests and Israel’s security paradigm. As the process advances by generating new tensions the developments also closely concern and affect Turkey.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Şeriata uygun emperyalizm, published in BirGün newspaper on November 13, 2025.
