Erdogan’s false promise to Assad just before Syrian War – Grand Mufti reveals all

Speaking to Al-Nujaba TV, Syria’s Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun revealed the final visit he had with Turkey’s Erdogan in 2011 just before the start of the Syrian War and the false promise the Turkish president relayed to Bashar al-Assad

With almost eight years of hindsight, Hassoun’s revelation effectively proves that Turkey (and Qatar by extension) were the original supporters of the 2011 Muslim Brotherhood-inspired rebellion in Syria, followed later on by the United States, Saudi Arabia and other powers (regional and extra-regional) who backed both identical and different factions in accordance with their own interests.

The Syrian Grand Multi said that he visited Turkey in 2011 and that during a meeting with Erdogan after Friday prayer, Erdogan stated that “the Arab Spring is upon us” and “if anything bad happens to you [Syria], we [Turkey] will be there to help you.”

Relaying the message back to Assad after returning to Syria, the Syrian president responded in laughter saying “we do not need [Turkey’s] help, we need Turkey to remove their curse [i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood] from us.”

Hassoun explained that this response confused him and that he then asked “why do you say that? Erdogan is our ally, he comes through Damascus all the time.” Assad’s answer to that was “Erdogan has not once come here without asking us to allow the religious groups [the Muslim Brotherhood] to return into [Syrian] politics.”

Hassoun concluded his talk with Al-Nujaba TV saying “the [Syrian] government groups are political and we do not want to bring any religion into politics.”

Turkey officially began backing Syrian rebel groups in 2012, about one year after the initial unrest; however, evidence – a new chapter of which has been provided by Hassoun’s testimony – suggests that Turkish foreign intelligence supported usurper groups in Syria since the first day of the Syrian War .