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Abdurrahman Mustafa

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Abdurrahman Mustafa
عبد الرحمن مصطفى
Mustafa in 2014
Prime Minister of the Syrian Interim Government
In office
30 June 2019 – 30 January 2025
PresidentAnas al-Abdah
Salem al-Meslet
Hadi al-Bahra
Preceded byJawad Abu Hatab
Succeeded byMohammed al-Bashir
(as Prime Minister of Syria)
President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces
In office
28 February 2018 – 29 June 2019
Prime MinisterJawad Abu Hatab
Preceded byRiad Seif
Succeeded byAnas al-Abdah
President of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 May 2014
Preceded byFayez Amro
Personal details
BornJanuary 1964 (age 61)
Aleppo, Syria
EducationUniversity of Aleppo

Abdurrahman Mustafa (born 1 January 1964) is a Syrian Turkmen politician who is the current president of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly.[1] During the Syrian civil war, he was a prominent member of the opposition to Bashar al-Assad, serving as the President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Syrian National Coalition, SNC) from February 2018 to June 2019,[2] then as the Prime Minister of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) from June 2019 to January 2025.[3]

Personal life

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Abdurrahman Mustafa was born in 1964, in the Turkmen village of Tell Hajar (Turkish:Taşlıhüyük) in the Aleppo Governorate of Syria. Mustafa is of Turkish origin and Syrian Turkmen ethnicity. He is married.[4][5]

Education

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Mustafa attended the University of Aleppo's School of Commerce and graduated in 1984 with a degree on Business/Management.[4][5][6] Besides Arabic, Mustafa is fluent in Turkish and also knows English.[5]

Business career

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Following the graduation, Mustafa worked for several companies. He received important international offices starting in 1988 when Mustafa was appointed as the Director of Finance and Administration of Libya for Kotaman A.Ş, later promoting to the Regional Director of company.[4][5] Mustafa was involved in trade between 1993 and 1996 in Bulgaria and Turkey. In 1996, he started working for the Turkish Özkesoğlu Group and served in international offices such as Regional Director of Libya and later Syria until his quit from business in 2012 and engagement in politics with the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.[4][5]

Political career

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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 10 May 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] On 19 March 2025, Mustafa met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Yürütme Kurulu ve Komisyonlar". Syrian Turkmen Assembly. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Turkmen politician elected as head of Syrian moderate opposition". Daily Sabah. May 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Syrian Interim Government (SIG) Prime Minister Congratulates President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Puts SIG Resources At His Government's Disposal". MEMRI. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d "Abdurrahman Mustafa". Biyografi.net. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Abdurrahman Mustafa". Syrian Turkmen Assembly. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Walid Al Nofal (28 September 2023). "From obscure figure to Syrian opposition heavyweight: How did Abdurrahman Mustafa rise?". Syria Direct. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d "Suriye Türkmen Meclisi'nin Kuruluşu". Syrian Turkmen Assembly. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Suriye Türkmen Meclisi Başkanı belli oldu". TRT Haber. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Suriye Türkmenleri Kendi Ordusunu Kuruyor". Al Jazeera Türk. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  10. ^ "Suriye Türkmenleri'nden Bayrak Açıklaması". Bugün. 25 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  11. ^ "Russian raids repeatedly hit Syrian Turkmen areas, Moscow's data shows". Reuters. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Turkmen Caught Between ISIS, Assad and Russia". Syria Deeply. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Syria's Turkmen: who they are, and what they have to do with Russia's downed plane". Vox. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Türkmenler savunmada ve saldırıda". Al Jazeera Türk. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Mare'de 2 yerleşim Türkmenlerde". Hürriyet. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  16. ^ "Suriye Türkmen Meclisi – Anasayfa / TR". Syrian Turkmen Assembly. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  17. ^ "Suriye ve Türkmen Gerçeği". Syrian Turkmen Assembly. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Hadi al-Bahra: President of a dead institution?". Archived from the original on 13 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Mustafa Places Interim Government at the Disposal of the Syrian State". Syrian Observer. 5 February 2025.
  20. ^ fedaa (19 March 2025). "President al-Sharaa receives Mr. Abdul Rahman Mustafa in Damascus". Syrian Arab News Agency. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
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