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35-577: In late 2013 the former Supreme Military Council chief of staff Salim Idris planned to form the Hazzm Movement in response him being sacked as the chief of staff. The Hazzm Movement was established on 25 January 2014 when 12 small rebel factions merged. Several of the factions had been part of the Farouq Brigades . The groups that became the Army of Mujahedeen were originally going to join

70-544: A Kurd, will take over for three months after Burhan Ghalioun was forced away. Plagued with internal conflict, the SNC on 13 March 2012 saw three prominent members resigning, giving as their reason that the SNC "had not gotten very far in working to arm the rebels,". The three were Haitham al-Maleh, a former judge and long-standing dissident, Islamist-leaning liberal and opposition leader Kamal al-Labwani and human rights lawyer Catherine al-Talli. Their reasons for resigning were that

105-588: A Security Council resolution, the international intervention scenario is unlikely to unfold. As a result, in the context of increasing defections in the military and the escalating violence in Syria, the SNC and the Free Syrian Army struck a deal in January 2012, recognising the units of anti-government rebels fighting in Syria. The SNC said that it was the duty of the opposition "to assist the rebels." While

140-678: A conduit by which the hopelessly factionalised Syrian opposition attracted and distributed money and arms from foreign sponsors. Prior to joining the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces , the Syrian National Council had been recognised as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people by several UN member states. On 6 March 2013, the Syrian National Coalition

175-668: A few small units. Between 6 and 7 December 2013, the al-Nusra Front and/or the ISIL raided warehouses under direct control of the SMC at the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing with Turkey and captured weapons and equipment. The warehouses, one of the largest held by the rebels at the time, held numerous weapons and equipment supplied to the SMC by Saudi Arabia , Qatar , the United States , United Kingdom , France , and other foreign supporters of

210-762: A meeting in Istanbul called by Turkey and Qatar. Despite the National Coordination Committee not attending and the Kurdish delegation as well as an unnamed senior dissident walking out, the BBC reported from the meeting that "[a]ll but one of Syria's disparate opposition groups have agreed to unite behind the Syrian National Council." The SNC, despite having had a Kurdish chairman, does not have Kurdish nationalist members. The only Kurdish party from inside Syria to have declared itself an affiliate of

245-580: A statement that he "disbanded the Supreme Military Council". On 25 September 2014, according to CNN , the Supreme Military Council allied with the Syriac Military Council to fight against the Syrian government and ISIL. Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council ( SNC ; Arabic : المجلس الوطني السوري , al- Majlis al-Waṭanī as-Sūri , French : Conseil national syrien ), sometimes known as

280-587: A succession of meetings in Turkey and elsewhere. Its intended purpose is to "represent the concerns and demands of the Syrian people." The creation of the SNC was celebrated by the Syrian protestors since the Friday protest following its establishment was dubbed "The Syrian National Council Represents Me". Yaser Tabbara , the council's spokesman at that time, said the membership of the council would include 115 to 120 members from all Syrian opposition groups, including

315-413: Is because they are peaceful. These will be supported by businesses and others who are afraid of the costs of war. Peaceful methods are generalizable." However, the SNC came to review its position on the peaceful nature of the uprising. According to the SNC, the opposition is now faced with two options: "greater militarization of local resistance or foreign intervention." With China and Russia veto impeding

350-809: The Aleppo Governorate . The Hazzm Movement reacted by joining the Levant Front , a large alliance of prominent Aleppo-based Islamist rebel groups; the alliance urged al Nusra to resolve its dispute with the Hazzm Movement by negotiating with the Levant Front. On 3 May 2015, some of the former members of the northern branches of the Hazzm Movement, including the Atarib Martyrs Brigade, and the Syrian Revolutionaries Front along with Jabhat al-Akrad ,

385-612: The Dawn of Freedom Brigades main component group the Northern Sun Battalion (making the Dawn of Freedom Brigades defunct in the process) and smaller FSA groups formed the Army of Revolutionaries . Many of the northern members of the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Hazzm Movement also joined the Levant Front . During the Turkish military intervention in Syria which started in late August 2016, some former members of

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420-612: The Free Syrian Army (FSA) from late 2012 to at least mid-2014. The establishment of the organisation was announced on 7 December 2012 with the backing of western and Arab powers as a means of financing and arming Syrian rebel forces. The Supreme Military Council of the FSA supported the Syrian National Council (SNC). It also recognized the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as

455-571: The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces , commonly named the Syrian National Coalition, with the SNC having 22 out of 60 seats. On 20 January 2014, the Syrian National Council announced that it was leaving the Syrian National Coalition in protest at the decision of the coalition to attend the Geneva II Conference on Syria . The Syrian National Council stated that participating in

490-796: The Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria , is a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul , Turkey , formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil uprising (which escalated into civil war) against the government of Bashar al-Assad . Initially, the council denied seeking to play the role of a government in exile , but this changed a few months later when violence in Syria intensified. The Syrian National Council seeks

525-765: The al-Nusra Front began attacking positions of the Hazzm Movement in the Idlib Governorate , overrunning bases and seizing weapon stores, due to its perceived closeness to the United States. Following the loss of men and weapons to Nusra, the Idlib branch of Hazzm stopped receiving funds from the CIA in December 2014, funds to the Aleppo branch continued. In January 2015, al-Nusra attacked Hazzm Movement positions in

560-653: The "civil authority" of the Syrian opposition . On 7 December 2012, 260 rebel commanders from all over Syria agreed to a unified command structure of the Free Syrian Army . The participants elected a 30-member Supreme Military Council, which then selected Brigadier General Salim Idris as Chief of Staff. The 30 members of the council were divided in groups of six, with each group representing one of five fronts : Southern ( Daraa , Damascus , and as-Suwayda ), Western ( Hama , Latakia and Tartus ), Northern ( Aleppo and Idlib ), Eastern ( Deir ez-Zor , al-Hasakah and Raqqa ), and Central ( Homs and al-Rastan ). The council

595-543: The Hazm Movement in January 2014. It was headed by Murshid al-Khaled ( nom de guerre : Abu Mutasim). Furthermore, the group was further composed of several additional subgroups before the merger: Supreme Military Council (Syria) The Supreme Military Council ( SMC ) ( Arabic : المجلس العسكري الأعلى , also called the Supreme Military Command ) was the highest military leadership of

630-530: The Hazzm Movement. The previous incarnation of the group, called Harakat Zaman Mohamed ( The movement of the time of Muhammad ), was supported by the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria . The group was supplied with BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles in a covert CIA program launched in 2014. Scores of the group's fighters also received U.S. military training in Qatar under the same program. In October 2014,

665-473: The SNC asserted that it would not provide arms directly to the Free Syrian Army, it will provide funds to "keep the Free Syrian Army afloat." For this reason, donations can be made on the SNC website. Marc Lynch , a Professor of Political Science in the United States, is cited from his April 2016 book The New Arab Wars: Uprising and Anarchy in the Middle East as describing the Syrian National Council as

700-467: The SNC expressed worries about the Libyan scenario (with the violent overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi ) being reiterated in Syria. It warned against a militarization of the conflict and insisted that the revolution was not sectarian but included all factions of the Syrian society. It also put its hopes in the multiplications of acts of civil disobedience as they "can be generalized, developed and expanded. This

735-440: The SNC is corrupt, a liberal front for the Muslim Brotherhood and had not made significant progress in arming the rebels. One secular member of the SNC claimed that more than half of the council are Islamists . On 27 March 2012, the recently resigned members, including Maleh and Labwani, agreed to rejoin the SNC, under the condition that SNC would agree to be more democratic and expand, although Labwani expressed doubts whether

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770-680: The SNC is the Kurdish Future Movement under the leadership of Mashaal Tammo , who was assassinated shortly after the announcement in the northeastern city of Qamishli . Abdulhakim Bashar , Secretary-General of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Syria , claims the SNC is too "much influenced by Turkey" and demanded guarantees for the Kurds in Syria by the SNC and says that Turkey would, in turn, be obliged to grant full rights to Turkey's Kurds. On 28 October 2011,

805-478: The Syrian National Coalition. The Syrian National Council withdrew from the Syrian National Coalition on 20 January 2014 in protest at the decision of the coalition to attend the Geneva II Conference on Syria . When the Arab Spring broke out, Syrian protesters began consolidating numerous opposition councils. The SNC's formation was announced in the city of Istanbul, Turkey on 23 August 2011, after

840-625: The Syrian Revolutionaries Front and the Hazzm Movement in exile from Turkey crossed into Syria through Jarabulus . In late December 2016, the Hazzm Movement, the SRF, and the Ansar Brigades in exile reportedly declared their intentions to return to Syria. The Hazzm Movement had a northern division, led by Murshid al-Khalid (Abu Mutasim), and a southern division led by Mohammed al-Dahik (Abu Hatem). The Secretary-General

875-447: The end of Bashar al-Assad's rule and the establishment of a modern, civil, democratic state . The SNC National Charter lists human rights , judicial independence , press freedom , democracy and political pluralism as its guiding principles. In November 2012, the Syrian National Council agreed to unify with several other opposition groups to form the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces , commonly named

910-530: The largest militias in the SMC, joined with al-Qaeda 's al-Nusra Front and several Salafi jihadist and other Sunni Islamic fundamentalist groups to form the Islamic Coalition . The SMC-affiliated groups in the coalition stressed that they were not breaking with SMC, but only the political exile wing in the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces . This left official SMC commander Salim Idriss formally in control of just

945-403: The now defunct National Council of Syria. It has so far unveiled the names of 71 members, mostly living outside Syria. On 2 October 2011, the council formally declared its organisational affiliations and structure, to include a general assembly, a general secretariat and an executive board. In November 2012, the Syrian National Council agreed to unify with several other opposition groups to form

980-408: The opposition would be able to hold together, but said that for now their accord will help Arab and Western governments make Assad stop his brutal repression. Abdual al-Haj of the SNC said that "now the international community no longer has an excuse to withhold support for the revolution, help arm the Free Syrian Army and establish safe zones to protect the civilian Syrian population." This happened at

1015-674: The opposition. The SMC leadership requested the Islamic Front , formed by most member groups of the Islamic Coalition two weeks earlier, for help, which the IF rejected as it refused to fight al-Nusra. The IF offered to raise its flag over the warehouses to protect it from attack, before proceeding to storm the warehouses and capture them from SMC units, the SMC-affiliated Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades , and ISIL. Following

1050-480: The takeover, the US and UK announced that they would temporarily suspend their supplies of non-lethal equipment for the SMC through the crossing. On 16 February 2014, the Supreme Military Council announced that Idris was replaced with Colonel Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir , head of the FSA's Quneitra Military Council . 4 months later on 26 June 2014, Abdullah al-Bashir was sacked by the SNC, and SNC's chief, Ahmad Tohme, said in

1085-568: The talks would go backwards on its stance "to not enter negotiations" until president al-Assad left office. The SNC's membership includes many members of the exiled Syrian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and is supported by the Damascus Declaration 's exile wing. The SNC itself claims to represent approximately 60 per cent of the Syrian opposition. Adib Shishakly is a founding member. Paris-based Syrian academic Burhan Ghalioun has served as its most prominent spokesperson and

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1120-523: Was Bilal Atar (Abu Abd al-Sham). Abdullah Awda (Abu Zeid) was in charge of military operations and Hamza Shamali (Abu Hashem) in charge of political affairs. The 12 groups that merged on 25 January 2014 to form the Hazzm Movement were: Several other groups joined the Hazzm Movement at a later date. The 9th Special Forces Division of Aleppo was a Syrian rebel group formerly affiliated with the Syria Revolutionaries Front and joined

1155-649: Was created with the backing of western powers and many Arab states as a vehicle to finance and arm rebel groups. On 11 July 2013, a commander of the SMC's Western Front, Kamal al-Hamami, met with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Latakia Governorate , which resulted in him being killed by ISIL. ISIL then threatened to kill all SMC members. In September 2013, the al-Tawhid Brigade , Islam Brigade , and Suqour al-Sham Brigade ,

1190-559: Was granted Syria's seat in the Arab League . On 27 February 2012, Haitham al-Maleh and Kamal al-Labwani along with 18 other members of the SNC formed a sub-group called the Syrian Patriotic Group. The leading activists of the SNC consider many of the SNC members to be too slow in taking action, and so the group is designed so that while still remaining SNC members, the 20 leading activists would speed up "backing

1225-565: Was named in September 2011 as chair of the council. Former Muslim Brotherhood leader Ali Sadr el-Din Bayanouni stated that Ghalioun was chosen because he "is accepted in the West and at home and, to prevent the regime from capitalising on the presence of an Islamist at the top of the SNC." On 10 June 2012, a new leader for Syrian National council was elected. Swedish based Abdulbaset Sida ,

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