The Motives Behind The Establishment Of The "National Army" Reserve to Abdel Nasser Hassou Introduction Popular protests in quickly turned into a bloody conflict, which has claimed nearly one million lives since 2011, due to the impact of external, international and regional factors that the Syrian arena witnessed during the past years. As the revolution turned into its military phase, it suffered from wide political and military transformations. The factions multiplied. In 2014, the number of factions was estimated at 1,000, comprising at least 100,000 Syrian and foreign fighters, and their orientations varied according to the countries that support them. The territory under their control expended (at one time it reached 70% of Syria), led to bloody conflicts between them for control of the crossings and tunnels, encapsulating those conflicts with ideology and religious fatwas, and all attempts to integrate these factions and unify them failed. In practice, the armed revolution since 2013 has not succeeded in any central operation, and has not been able to carry out any battle with strategic and tactical objectives. In fact, most of the battles it fought were in response to the regional and international struggle for the influence in the field map. The establishment of the "National Army" is a Turkish necessity The first attempt to establish a military entity after the splits in the regular army was to establish the "Free Officers Brigade", at the initiative of renegade Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Harmoush, but the attempt failed after he was arrested by Turkish intelligence and handed over to the Syrian regime on the back of his disagreement with the Turkish leaders. Because of his refusal to depend and cooperate with the Muslim Brotherhood, as was rumored at that time.

On the ruins of the "Free Officers", the "Free " FSA, as a military wing of the Syrian revolution was built, with a gelatinous structure without any clear ideology or political authority that offered a vision for Syria after the fall of the Assad regime. However, the FSA factions seemed to be the national alternative to the regime's army, which stood up against its people. The factions of the "Free Army", with no real central leadership, diverged and led to the independence of each faction from one another to the point of fighting with each other. It was clear from the beginning that the Islamists had penetrated strongly into these factions, and this was evident in the factions' names, their flags, their slogans and the uniform of their fighters. The factions suffered major defeats, losing most of the territory they had controlled since 2012, and because of their internal fragility and the game of foreign nations, these factions became pawns in the hands of various regional powers, and the loss of Aleppo was the title of the great defeat. It was only recently that a unified opposition army was seriously established, because Turkey needed Syrians to take the lead in its war against the SDF in an attempt to legitimize it when it entered Syrian territory. So, in response to Turkish pressure, the Syrian Islamic Council launched an initiative to establish the "National Army" from Istanbul, in coordination with the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Political Bureau of the (formal body) and the interim government approved the Islamic Council initiative. The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Turkish Special Forces in the presence of the governor of the cities of Kulis and Enteb, as well as the commander of the Turkish special forces, members of the Syrian interim government, and leaders of the FSA residing in Turkey. They agreed on several points, the most important of which are: 1. Provide support to Turkey in its war with the SDF. 2. Management of the crossings between Syria and Turkey by the Interim Government. 3. Collecting the crossings revenues in the treasury of the interim government. 4. The transfer of factions to the stage of the regular army through the process of integration. Despite the unification of the military factions in the "National Army" with Turkish funding, and under the cover of "legitimate" represented by a fatwa issued by the Islamic Council, each faction had legal opinions different from those of the "National Army", that permitted them to make military and political decisions alone in the area it controls . Perhaps the experience of the operations "Euphrates Shield" and "Olive Branch", which aimed at the occupation of the Afrin region, confirms this methodology in the behavior of these factions, these factions have fought between them, and committed serious violations against civilians, turning them into factions of mercenaries and they were de-nationalized. Problematic national standard The tasks of the National Army are defined in three axes, as announced by the Head of the Interim Government: 1. Protection of northwestern Syria. 2. Fighting the Syrian regime forces. 3. Assisting the Turkish army to get rid of the "" in the eastern Euphrates. But the army's tasks were not entirely clear under an incoherent military structure. It operates in Aleppo countryside as an internal security force (police), while placing itself in Idlib and countryside under the authority of de facto forces that impose themselves in their areas of influence. Despite populist speeches by army commanders on every occasion that ( he will continue to liberate the country from tyranny and sectarianism, and will preserve the unity and integrity of the homeland, and will work to liberate every inch of Syria and return it to its true Syrian companions, especially in the east of the Euphrates region after the people of the region suffered injustice and displacement, and that the Ministry of Defense will use all its capabilities to defend the opposition factions' control areas in northern Syria), but the practice on the ground is quite different. In , the factions worked to bring about a demographic change in Afrin and annexed it to the Turkish state of Hatay. In the north of Aleppo, where the National Army is stationed away from Idlib, awaiting for orders from the Turkish government, without any friction with the regime forces since its establishment two years ago. Moreover, the factions that are members of the "National Army", it is difficult to determine the roles they play, whether they form a national army or not, given the criterion of value that requires the implementation of priorities within national borders, and in view of the tasks they perform, we will find that they transcend the national borders according to Non-Syrian priorities, therefore, the term "National Army" remains a nomenclature, which does not always correspond to the objective for which it was established. Structure of the National Army The National Army formed an official central military structure under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense of the Interim Government, established by Turkish forces in late 2017, to unite most of the factions that contributed to the operations of the "Euphrates Shield" and "Olive Branch" in northern Aleppo and Operation "Spring of Peace" in the east of the Euphrates now under his command, where it is estimated about (35) thousand fighters before the merger with the National Liberation Front, and after the merger the number became (80) thousand fighters, is characterized by an identity that reflects the image of the factions, not the image of an army, and consists of more than (30) armed factions of Arab and Turkmen tribes. The structure of the "National Army" was as follows: The portfolio of the Ministry of Defense and the Chief of Staff for Major General , Brigadier Adnan al-Ahmad as deputy chief of staff in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations, and Brigadier General Fadlallah al-Hajji as deputy chief of staff for Idlib and around, more than (30) faction commanders. The factions in the "National Army" are divided into two types, factions, whose reference is the founding commander who considers the faction to be his own property, and will not relinquish his position to an officer sent by the Ministry of Defense in the Interim Government. Islamic factions, subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief and legitimates of religious edicts, are therefore it is difficult to integrate the two groups under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defense, and it may take a long time. The Interim Government announced that it will unify the military formations under the command of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, and continue to build the "National Army" on the basis of professional military, and will control the weapons deployed in so-called the "liberated areas". Some factions have received intensive and brief training by special units of the Turkish army, especially those that participated in the operations of the "Euphrates Shield" and "Olive Branch", which were not subject to integration mechanisms and did not give up their names in favor of the effective empowerment of the Ministry of Defense in military administration and organization. Through a hierarchical system to obtain a military hierarchy, provide specialized and regular military training, and establish police and military courts to reduce violations against civilians and prosecute the criminals. While there have been numerous reports criticizing the factional composition of this army, and explained that each faction or military formation within this army, maintained its own structure in exchange for integration into operating rooms to carry out any task entrusted to it, in other words that the process of merging those factions was not a process of dissolution and reconfiguration, it is only a process of uniting and coordinating efforts, so it can be considered a coalition of factions. The "National Army" lacks the basic elements of the military establishment, relating initially to a unified central command that imposes military decisions within a clear structure and a specific military arrangement. This is what is lacking in the General Staff or the Ministry of Defense, which is offset by the heterogeneous structure of civilians and military within the ranks of this army, which was imposed by the nature of militarization during the Syrian revolution, in addition to the factional and regional structure based on the composition of the army, amid the multiplicity of different ideologies and multiple loyalties, which prevent the formation of a true doctrine, not to mention the lack of training, qualification and equipment. Perhaps the most important pillars that the "National Army" lacks to reach the form of the military establishment is the absence of political reason, whether within the leadership of this army or through a political institution. Based on the foregoing, the National Army is not subject to any political institution, and the political opposition institutions have no authority over its formations, so it is not true to say that it is a military institution or even an integrated military grouping. Military Dependency If the Russian, Iranian and American interventions in the Syrian affairs to acquire areas of influence, the Turkish intervention was based on the existence of understandings and international and regional political agreements and interests for the sake of its national security, and the immediate threats, as the leaders of the "National Army" justify, so all the militias, factions, and military forces on Syrian territory are occupying forces seeking for their interests. The justifications provided by the Syrian government regarding the legitimacy of the presence of Russian and Iranian forces are pure slander. It is the same justification provided by the opposition for the presence of Turkish forces, which says that it came in accordance with understandings and political agreements. The national position must reject the interventions and seek to prevent them. Turkey trains and supports the "National Army" because there are common goals and interests between them, so that the decision-making space for the "National Army" is determined by strategic realities and interests with Turkey, which requires consultation and coordination between the two parties, as promoted by the leaders of this army. Turkey has transformed the "National Army" factions into militias that take orders from Turkey when needed, directed them to their opponents, and limited their mission to fighting the Kurds only. This army thus shifted from the doctrine of fighting against regime forces to defending the interests of the Turkish government and its authority against Erdogan's enemies. In parallel, the military, civilian police, and local councils were established in areas controlled by the "National Army", all of which belong to the Turkish intelligence service. Brigadier General Haitham al-Afisi, one of the leaders of the "National Army", admits that "all the support provided so far to the National Army is Turkish support. No other country is a partner in this matter". In fact, neither the "National Army" nor any of its factions can carry out any military action against the Syrian regime forces and their allies without a Turkish decision, due to many factors, including the limited capabilities of all factions, except the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which claimed and took control of the area, because it is the strongest military entity, and because of the presence of Turkish observation points, which became more like military bases in the vicinity of "liberated areas." The "National Army" turned into a direct Turkish stick to fight the SDF, because they are hired factions that receive their salaries from Turkish intelligence. Disengagement with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham The new formation of the "National Army" faces many challenges, most notably the presence of radical factions such as the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant and most powerful force in Idlib province. The Commission shall dissolve itself in accordance with the agreement of the Russian and Turkish sides. Or Turkey should ensure that it is classified as an international terrorist organization, as well as in Turkey. This was the Russian condition to stop the advance of regime forces and Russian airstrikes on Idlib. However, Turkey, the guarantor of this agreement, has not succeeded so far in achieving its endeavors, so the presence of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in the region may be used as a pretext to target the military factions. Despite the dangerous situation, the reactions were different by the National Army and the National Liberation Front, which merged under one roof. Where the head of the Political Bureau of the "National Front" that "We have no problem with our brothers in Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. And this army is to fight the regime and its supporters only, and we did not build it to confront Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, and we hope that there will be no disagreement between us and them". The National Liberation Front has announced its cooperation with Turkey's efforts, but has ruled out disarming it. However, clashes took place between the National Army and HTS in Idlib countryside, which led to the latter's control of most areas under the leadership of the Salvation Government. Summary Within the game of sharing power in Syria, which witnessed many transformations in the military field, the formation of the so-called "National Army" came as a new phase of the positioning of external forces in the Syrian field, and it is clear that the attempt to integrate the factions into a unified military structure is a Turkish necessity in the first place. Its aim is to fight the "Syrian Democratic Forces" by Syrian fighters, bearing in mind that Turkey will not allow the development of this army to the point of having an independent sovereign decision, through a hierarchy and military discipline. Turkey concerns a number of future scenarios for Syria as a whole, or in particular for the Upper Mesopotamia region, and as gave the city of Afrin military administration to the "Euphrates Shield" factions, it will seek that the "National Army" to be entrusted with managing the areas it entered after Operation "Peace Spring". "So that the factions of this army under the leadership of the Turkish army and intelligence, and within the format of the Turkish administration.