How did al-Qaeda capture Idlib?

Syrian lands across from Turkey's Cilvegözü border gate is being controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has roots in al-Qaeda.

How did this happen?

Ahrar al-Sham, another rebel group fighting Bashar al-Assad, that controlled a region with Idlib in the center, signed a truce deal with the HTS and its militias got on those famous pickup trucks and headed to the south of Idlib.

Why did this happen?

According to observers, Ahrar al-Sham had to reinforce the residential areas on the border with the regions controlled by the Assad regime and since it could not fight on two fronts, it left the north to the HTS, which is the "lesser evil" compared to Assad.

Al-Qaeda on our border

After this development, HTS militants put up checkpoints right across from our border. In two days, they took control of more than 30 villages including Bab al-Hawa, which is adjacent to our border.

The HTS is kind of a coalition. But its backbone is Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front that was linked to al-Qaeda.

In fact, the HTS and Ahrar al-Sham fought for a long time shoulder to shoulder against Assad forces.

However, when the regime took back many residential areas with the support of Russia and Iran, the HTS and Ahrar al-Sham could not share the remaining region and started clashing with each other.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım made comments on the issue on Aug. 11. Probably thanks to the briefings he received one day before at a security summit he chaired, Yıldırım had detailed knowledge on the issue. He said necessary measures were being taken in the 150-kilometer border with Syria in Hatay.

In some part of that 150-kilometer border is Afrin,...