Syrian Salvation Government

Syrian Salvation Government
حكومة الإنقاذ السورية
*Ḥukūmat al-ʾInqādh as-Sūriyyah*
Syrian Salvation Government حكومة الإنقاذ السورية; Ḥukūmat al-ʾInqādh as-Sūriyyah
2017–2024
	Flag (2018–2024) Emblem
	Territories controlled by the SSG as of 24 November 2023
Status	Unrecognized quasi-state
Capital	Idlib
Official languages	Arabic
Religion	Sunni Islam (Salafism)
Government	Unitary provisional government under a technocratic Islamic state
Emir of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham
• 2017–2025	Ahmed al-Sharaa
Prime Minister
• 2017–2018 (first)	Mohammed al-Sheikh
• 2024 (last)	Mohammed al-Bashir
President of General Shura Council
• 2017–2020 (first)	Bassam al-Sahyouni
• 2020–2024 (last)	Mustafa al-Mousa
Legislature	General Shura Council
Historical era	Syrian civil war
• Formation of the Tahrir al-Sham	28 January 2017
• Formation of the Syrian Salvation Government	2 November 2017
• Syrian opposition offensives	27 November – 8 December 2024
• Reorganized as Syrian caretaker government	10 December 2024
• HTS disbanded	29 January 2025
Population
• 2023 estimate	4,000,000
Currency	Turkish lira, United States dollar
Time zone	UTC+3 (Arabia Standard Time)
	Website; syriansg.org
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham
	Syrian Interim Government
Syrian caretaker government

The Syrian Salvation Government (SSG)^[a] was a de facto unrecognized quasi-state in Syria formed on 2 November 2017 by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other opposition groups during the Syrian civil war.^[7] It controlled much of northwest Syria and had an estimated population of over 4,000,000 in 2023.^[4] Its de facto capital was Idlib.

After the December 2024 fall of Damascus,^[8] 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.^[9]

The SSG was governed as an authoritarian^[10]^: 34 technocratic^[11]^[12]^[13] 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,^[14]^[13] although it maintained a degree of operational autonomy from the group.^[11]^[10]^: 31 It has been described as the state-building project of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.^[13]^[15]

^ S, T. (13 November 2018). "A New Flag for the Opposition - The Syrian Observer".
^ Shekani, Helbast (12 November 2018). "Syrian opposition changes flag, adds Islamic inscription". Kurdistan 24. Kurdistan 24. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
^ "Abu Mohammed al-Golani: the leader of Syrian HTS rebels steering shock offensive". Reuters. 6 December 2024. On Wednesday he visited Aleppo's citadel, accompanied by a fighter waving a Syrian revolution flag - once shunned by Nusra as a symbol of apostasy but recently embraced by Golani, a nod to Syria's more mainstream opposition, another video showed.
'He's really important. The main rebel leader in Syria, the most powerful Islamist,' said Lund.
'They have adopted the symbols of the wider Syrian uprising... which they now use and try to claim the revolutionary legacy – that 'we are part of the movement of 2011, the people who rose up against Assad, and we are also Islamists'.
^ ^a ^b "Structure of the Syrian Salvation Government". Levant24. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ Ghuraibi, Yousef (1 July 2020). "Residents of northwestern Syria replace Syrian pound with Turkish lira". Enab Baladi. Idlib. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
^ Ashawi, Khalil (28 August 2018). "Falling lira hits Syrian enclave backed by Turkey". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
^ "HTS-backed civil authority moves against rivals in latest power grab in northwest Syria". Syria Direct. 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
^ "Syrian President Assad Flees Damascus As Rebels Storm Capital, Take Over Television Network". News18. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
^ "Mohammed al-Bashir officially the head of the transitional government in Syria until March 2025". Independent Arabia. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference :16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Drevon, Jerome (27 October 2020). "The consolidation of a (post-jihadi) technocratic state-let in Idlib". Project on Middle East Political Science. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
^ Zelin, Aaron Y. (10 July 2024). Jihadist Governance and Statecraft (PDF). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. pp. 18–19.
^ ^a ^b ^c Zelin, Aaron Y. (3 December 2024). "The Patient Efforts Behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's Success in Aleppo". War on the Rocks. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
^ Fahim, Kareem (2 January 2022). "Former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria seeks to soften its brand". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
^ Cite error: The named reference :20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[History-1] S, T. (13 November 2018). "A New Flag for the Opposition - The Syrian Observer".

[2] Shekani, Helbast (12 November 2018). "Syrian opposition changes flag, adds Islamic inscription". Kurdistan 24. Kurdistan 24. Retrieved 11 December 2024.

[3] "Abu Mohammed al-Golani: the leader of Syrian HTS rebels steering shock offensive". Reuters. 6 December 2024. On Wednesday he visited Aleppo's citadel, accompanied by a fighter waving a Syrian revolution flag - once shunned by Nusra as a symbol of apostasy but recently embraced by Golani, a nod to Syria's more mainstream opposition, another video showed.
'He's really important. The main rebel leader in Syria, the most powerful Islamist,' said Lund.
'They have adopted the symbols of the wider Syrian uprising... which they now use and try to claim the revolutionary legacy – that 'we are part of the movement of 2011, the people who rose up against Assad, and we are also Islamists'.

[:22-4] "Structure of the Syrian Salvation Government". Levant24. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2024.

[5] Ghuraibi, Yousef (1 July 2020). "Residents of northwestern Syria replace Syrian pound with Turkish lira". Enab Baladi. Idlib. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

[6] Ashawi, Khalil (28 August 2018). "Falling lira hits Syrian enclave backed by Turkey". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2024.

[Syria_Direct_2017-8] "HTS-backed civil authority moves against rivals in latest power grab in northwest Syria". Syria Direct. 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.

[9] "Syrian President Assad Flees Damascus As Rebels Storm Capital, Take Over Television Network". News18. Retrieved 8 December 2024.

[10] "Mohammed al-Bashir officially the head of the transitional government in Syria until March 2025". Independent Arabia. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

[:16-11] Cite error: The named reference :16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:23-12] Drevon, Jerome (27 October 2020). "The consolidation of a (post-jihadi) technocratic state-let in Idlib". Project on Middle East Political Science. Retrieved 3 December 2024.

[:24-13] Zelin, Aaron Y. (10 July 2024). Jihadist Governance and Statecraft (PDF). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. pp. 18–19.

[:21-14] Zelin, Aaron Y. (3 December 2024). "The Patient Efforts Behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's Success in Aleppo". War on the Rocks. Retrieved 3 December 2024.

[auto1-15] Fahim, Kareem (2 January 2022). "Former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria seeks to soften its brand". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.

[:20-16] Cite error: The named reference :20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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