Moderate enough? West eyes normalisation with HTS-led Syria
Description
Just as the leader of the Islamist-led alliance that toppled Syria's Assad announced he was shedding his wartime alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, can Ahmed al-Sharaa's HTS shed its past as the al-Nusra Front, a hardline offshoot of al Qaeda? FRANCE 24's Wassim Nasr was one of just a handful of journalists to interview Sharaa on Monday.
For the president-elect of the United States, it was Turkey that toppled Assad. Donald Trump calls it a "hostile takeover", this as the outgoing Biden administration reportedly sounds the alarm over a potential Turkish invasion of northern Syria to oust US-backed Kurdish militias. Those same militias guard IS group prisoners for the West.
In the middle, Europe is sending dignitaries and diplomats to both Ankara and Damascus. When is the right time for normalisation? How much has the map of the region been redrawn?
Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.
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