Message to the West: Idlib under media control of Tahrir al-Sham
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) continues
to violate all commercial activities in Idlib as it takes possession of them
completely by force. The latest of these attempts is the control of advertising
companies in the northern governorate. The Idlib City Council, which is
affiliated with HTS’s illegitimate Ministry of Local Administration in the
governorate, issued a decision last week to remove all signs from public roads.
The decision demanded all those who placed signs on electricity poles along the
public road between the Al-Mutanabbi roundabout and the Al-Karra roundabout in
the center of Idlib to remove all billboards within a week in order to start
the process of lighting the roads.
The Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights confirmed that the decision to remove banners and advertisements from
some Idlib streets is part of a general plan in all Idlib regions managed by
HTS, and the implementation of the plan began about two months ago.
The Observatory added that the plan
to remove advertisements on all kinds of roads also aims to invest in this
sector, meaning that advertising in Idlib will be limited to one company chosen
by HTS's Syrian Salvation Government (SSG).
Media control
Al-Monitor news confirmed in a
report that the Creative Inception company for media production and advertising
is directly linked to HTS and was established in 2020 based on a plan developed
by HTS to infiltrate the ranks of civilians in Idlib and control the media and
advertising sectors in order to achieve financial gains for the HTS government,
in addition to allowing it to control, unify and direct the media discourse in
Idlib to support HTS and its illegitimate government.
Al-Monitor pointed out that this
company is working to attract journalists and media activists in Idlib,
especially new graduates from media institutes in the areas under its control,
and it provides them with good equipment and training in an attempt to control
the media.
This company also supports a variety
of programs on its social media platforms that address local, economic and
social issues in Idlib, and it also supports HTS’s directives. In addition, it
specializes in entertainment programs, talks about political and military
issues, and conducts dialogues with opposition figures in Syria and abroad.
Message to the
West
The Syrian Observatory said that
among HTS’s goals by controlling the media in Idlib is an attempt to send a
media image to the West. When HTS was battling the Jundallah faction in the
Turkmen Mountains area in the northern countryside of Latakia at the end of
October, it allowed a delegation of journalists working for the Washington Post
to deliver a message to the West that it is fighting terrorist organizations.
