Syrian Salvation Government
The Syrian Salvation Government was a de facto unrecognized quasi-state in Syria formed on 2 November 2017 by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and other opposition groups during the Syrian civil war. It controlled much of northwest Syria and had an estimated population of over 4,000,000 in 2023. Its de facto capital was Idlib.
After the December 2024 fall of Damascus, the final prime minister of Ba'athist Syria, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, transferred power in Syria to SSG Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir, with all ministers from the Syrian Salvation Government transferring to the same posts in the new caretaker government of Syria.
The SSG was governed as an authoritarian technocratic Islamic state with two branches: the legislative General Shura Council, headed by a president, and the executive branch, headed by a prime minister.
Although HTS declared its independence from the SSG, the SSG was widely regarded as its civilian administration, although it maintained a degree of operational autonomy from the group. It has been described as the state-building project of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Background
Prior to the formation of the SSG in 2017, Idlib Governorate was governed by a patchwork of armed opposition groups, co-operatively-run local councils and independent organizations nominally under the authority of the opposition Syrian Interim Government. As Syrian government offensives encroached on the territory, civil initiatives to create a unified governing body were increasingly undertaken but failed due to a lack of trust and differences of opinion between stakeholders.HTS and its predecessor organizations, the al-Qaeda franchise al-Nusra Front and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, have long maintained a presence in Idlib. The al-Nusra Front was not particularly interested in the minutiae of governance, leaving local councils to govern themselves. However, in 2013, Ahmed al-Sharaa — then the emir of al-Nusra — expressed his belief that the popular support required to establish an Islamic emirate could only be obtained through provision of public goods and services, laying the theoretical groundwork for increased involvement in governance.
Initially, HTS shared its governing responsibilities with other armed groups, but this became increasingly unilateral as al-Sharaa sought to impose his group's hegemony over the province. HTS engaged in fighting against rival armed groups in the region, such as Ahrar al-Sham, the Syrian National Army and the local affiliate of the Islamic State, Liwa al-Aqsa. During major offensives in January–March 2017 and July 2017, HTS expelled or subjugated these groups, leaving it as the pre-eminent military power in the province.
History
The General Syrian Conference, held in Idlib in September 2017, was a continuation of the Civil Administration Initiative in opposition-controlled areas, held at the end of August 2017 in Idlib. At its conclusion on 11 September 2017, the Conference formed a constituent body named the General Shura Council, headed by president Bassam al-Sahyouni, and appointed a prime minister. The Syrian Interim Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces in Qamishli and Afrin rejected the results of the conference. Conference participants agreed upon "Islamic law as the only source of legislation", "the need to preserve the identity of the Syrian Muslim people", "the overthrow of the illegal regime with all its symbols and pillars and holding it accountable for its committed crimes, as well as liberating the Syrian territory from all the occupying forces, extending security and spreading justice in the liberated areas".The move was seen as part of an attempt by HTS to impose its control on the region. Riad al-Asaad's attendance at the conference was controversial. Riad al-Asaad said that "HTS has previously declared that it will be dissolve itself, which is an external and internal demand", and that HTS "did not attend the conference and we did not communicate with them after it ended, either". However, the Hawar Kilis Operations Room, part of the Syrian National Army, condemned Riad al-Asaad and accused him of conspiring with al-Qaeda.
In early November 2017, the General Conference formed the SSG. There followed weeks of conflict between the new government and the Syrian Interim Government, with reports of HTS unilaterally disbanding several SIG-supported local councils across northwestern Syria. Mohammed al-Sheikh was initially appointed as prime minister, with Riad al-Asaad serving as deputy prime minister for military affairs alongside eleven other ministers. Al-Sheikh announced the formation of four commissions: Inspection Authority, Prisoners and Missing Persons Affairs, Planning and Statistics Authority, and the Commission of Trade Unions. On 12 December 2017, the SSG issued a warning that called for the SIG to evacuate their offices from opposition-controlled areas in 72 hours. There were reports that some SIG-run local councils had already been closed and replaced by SSG-loyal alternatives, but others said they would not vacate their offices.
On 6 January 2018, the SSG seized control of the SIG-run Free Aleppo University and closed several faculties in al-Dana and Sarmada, north of Idlib, where almost 4,000 students studied. This resulted in protests by students and lecturers of the university against the group. On 15 August 2018, the SSG's Founding Body accepted the resignation of Mohammed al-Sheikh after the kidnapping of a prominent health director. Although the director was ransomed for US$100,000, al-Sheikh had promised to resign if the Ministry of Interior failed to apprehend the captors within 24 hours. On 18 August 2018, the Founding Body instructed Fawaz Hilal to form a new government with the deputy prime minister, Mohammed Jamal Shahoud, leading in the interim.
The SSG's Constitution Drafting Assembly appointed Fawaz Hilal as prime minister, alongside nine cabinet ministers, on 10 December 2018. Hilal and much of his cabinet maintained close ties with HTS. During his term, the Ministry of Economy was merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction was merged with the Ministry of Local Administration and Services. During a government offensive on Idlib in May 2019, Hilal called upon Turkey to support the opposition.
Tax increases, rising commodity prices and accusations that the SSG was establishing monopolies on key goods such as fuel led to protests between October and November 2019, with demonstrators chanting slogans against the SSG and Ahmed al-Sharaa. After residents of Kafr Takharim refused to pay a new tax on olive oil and expelled SSG officials, HTS besieged and bombed the town, killing 5. Hilal and his cabinet resigned shortly afterwards, leading to the Shura Council asking Ali Keda, Deputy Minister of the Interior for Administrative Affairs and Public Relations, to form a new government. On 18 November 2019, Keda was elected prime minister by the council, winning 65% of the vote. However, some activists said the reshuffle was merely "changing faces".
On 23 March 2020, the SSG created an emergency committee to coordinate its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Syria. Measures taken by the SSG to prevent the spread of COVID-19 included suspending Friday prayers, shutting down schools and markets and opening quarantine centres in Jisr al-Shughur, Sarmada and Kafr Karmin. However, these efforts were undermined by hardliners from HTS and al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, Hurras al-Din, that continued to pray and hold sermons in mosques without social distancing. The SSG possessed limited resources to deal with a large outbreak of COVID-19, with only 107 ventilators and 243 intensive care unit beds at its disposal.
On 7 April 2020, Bassam al-Sahyouni, president of the General Shura Council, resigned. Sources told Enab Baladi that his resignation was in response to attempts by HTS to interfere in the council's activities. On 24 April 2020, the Council elected Mustafa al-Mousa, a pharmacist who previously headed its health committee, as his successor.
In May 2020, rapid depreciation of the Syrian pound triggered by the US Government's Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act prompted the SSG to replace it with the Turkish lira in its administered territories.
On 1 December 2020, Ali Keda was re-elected as prime minister for another term by the General Shura Council, receiving 81% of the vote. The appointment was criticized by opposition activists, who likened it to elections in territories controlled by the Ba'athist regime. In May 2023, Rojava and SSG announced separate proposals to host millions of Syrian refugees stranded across the neighboring countries, following Arab League's readmission of the Assad government.
In his speech during the Eid al-Adha celebrations in July 2022, Ahmed al-Sharaa described the SSG as "an important stage in the history of the Syrian revolution. It is a transition from the chaotic situation in which the liberated areas were toward organization."
After formal diplomatic talks in July 2023, the SSG concluded an agreement with AANES to begin trading fuel supplies between Rojava and Idlib. The meetings had been conducted amid growing tensions between Turkey and SDF, and SDF's intention to deploy HTS as a check on the growing Turkish influence in northern Syria. For their part, the SSG proposed joint counter-terrorism efforts alongside SDF. The talks also involved negotiations on political arrangements, such as the prospects for a joint SSG-Rojava civil administration in the event of potential expulsion of SNA forces from northern Syria.
In July 2023, the SSG launched "Syria Phone", the first communication and internet services company in Idlib. The state-owned company announced that it would provide "cellular calls, SMS, 4G and video calls."
On January 13, 2024, the Shura Council elected Minister of Development and Humanitarian Affairs Mohammed al-Bashir as prime minister, succeeding Ali Keda. His election platform focused on e-government and government automation.
In March 2024, the Ministry of Interior said it would form a three-judge panel 'security court' for the families of detainees following demonstrations in Idlib due to the death of military personnel in prison and dissatisfaction at HTS influence. The Ministry of Interior also announced an amnesty for detainees "under certain conditions and exceptions" and established a 'General Security Administration' under its purview.
In November 2024, HTS-led rebel groups launched the Syrian opposition offensives, capturing Aleppo city and bringing it under the control of the SSG. The SSG reactivated its inter-ministerial emergency response committee to coordinate its expansion into the new territories. The committee prepared tents for new IDPs displaced by bombing, coordinated the transfer of 100,000 loaves of bread from Idlib's bakeries to Aleppo city, and dispatched rubble removal and street cleaning teams. By December 3, the SSG had opened several government institutions in Aleppo city, began garbage collection, and restarted water and electricity services, it had also resumed traffic control duties and according to Reuters, "internet coverage has improved as a rebel-linked telecoms network has expanded its reach". Although the Syrian Pound has continued to devalue from 15,000 to ~22,000 per USD. HTS Emir al-Julani said that governance duties would be transferred to a "transitional body" in the city rather than the Salvation Government and would withdraw fighters. Dareen Khalifa of the International Crisis Group in contract with Ahmed al-Sharaa said this was to avoid restrictions on international aid coming into the city due to HTS' terrorist designation.
During the offensive, drones dropped SSG leaflets on government positions which exhorted troops to desert or defect and contained contact details for the SSG's "Center for Safety and Defection". The SSG offered amnesty to all surrendering government forces who remained in Aleppo after its capture.
Following the overthrow of the Assad regime and the establishment of a new, nationwide caretaker government, most incumbent ministers in the SSG retained their posts in the new government.