Abdurrahman Mustafa (; born 1 January 1964) is a

Syrian Turkmen Syrian Turkmen, also called Syrian Turks or Syrian Turkish people (; ) are Syrian citizens of Turkish origin who mainly trace their roots to Anatolia (i.e. modern Turkey). Turkish-speaking Syrian Turkmen make up the third largest ethnic group ...

politician who is the current president of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly. During the Syrian civil war, he was a prominent member of the opposition to Bashar al-Assad, serving as the President of the

National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, commonly named the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), or the Syrian National Revolutionary Coalition (SNRC) was a political organization founded in Doha, Qatar, in November 2012 ...

(Syrian National Coalition, SNC) from February 2018 to June 2019, then as the Prime Minister of the

Syrian Interim Government The Syrian Interim Government (Arabic: الحكومة السورية المؤقتة; ''Ḥukūmat as-Sūriyya al-Muwaqqata'') was a government-in-exile and later a quasi-state in Syria formed on 18 March 2013 by the National Coalition of Syria ...

(SIG) from June 2019 to January 2025.

Personal life

Abdurrahman Mustafa was born in 1964, in the Turkmen village of Tell Hajar ( Turkish:''Taşlıhüyük'') in the

Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' ) is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of the t ...

of Syria. Mustafa is of Turkish origin and

ethnicity. He is married.

Education

Mustafa attended the

University of Aleppo University of Aleppo (, also called Aleppo University) is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria. It is the second largest university in Syria after the University of Damascus. During 2005–06, the university had over 61,000 undergraduate ...

's School of Commerce and graduated in 1984 with a degree on Business/Management. Besides

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, Mustafa is fluent in Turkish and also knows English.

Business career

Following the graduation, Mustafa worked for several companies. He received important international offices starting in 1988 when Mustafa was appointed as the Director of Finance and Administration of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

for Kotaman A.Ş, later promoting to the Regional Director of company. Mustafa was involved in trade between 1993 and 1996 in Bulgaria and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In 1996, he started working for the Turkish Özkesoğlu Group and served in international offices such as Regional Director of Libya and later Syria until his quit from business in 2012 and engagement in politics with the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.

Political career

Mustafa was one of the founding members of the Syrian Turkmen Platform, an organization which was founded on 15 December 2012. When the Syrian Turkmen Assembly was founded on May 2013, becoming the successor organization of the Syrian Turkmen Platform, Mustafa applied for membership but was not elected. He was subsequently hired as a party employee. In September 2013, when the Syrian Turkmen Assembly held new internal elections, Mustafa won a seat and was elected Vice president. According to a '' Syria Direct'' report, Mustafa's rise in the Syrian Turkmen Assembly and more generally among the Syrian opposition was sponsored by Turkish authorities and by

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

personally. On 10 May 2014, when the Syrian Turkmen Assembly held a new general meeting, Mustafa was elected as president of the party with the majority of votes by 360 delegates. Since his assuming of the presidency, the activities of Mustafa and the assembly have intensified dramatically including the designation of Syrian Turkmen Brigades as the assembly's military wing, official declaration of the Syrian Turkmen flag, more coordinated attacks seeking the benefit of Turkmen and

Syrian opposition Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

and stronger coordination and cooperation with US and

on the fight against ISIL on

Azaz Azaz () is a city in northwest Syria, roughly north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 at the 2004 census.

Jarabulus Jarabulus (, ALA-LC: , Syrian Arabic, Aleppo dialect: ; or ; ) is a Syrian city administratively belonging to Aleppo Governorate, under the de facto control of the Syrian Opposition. Jarabulus lies on the western bank of the Euphrates and north ...

line, becoming a key organization among which USA has close ties with and states as the "moderate rebels/opposition". As president of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, Mustafa received open support from

but also from the Gulf States, namely,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

(before the split) and

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, and from the United States who considered him a part of "the moderate opposition". Mustafa headed the Syrian Turkmen deletages in the 2016 Geneva peace talks on Syria as an official diplomatic part of the Syrian Opposition. Once the Syrian National Coalition expanded, the Syrian Turkmen Assembly was allowed to join, increasing the number of Turkmen members among it. In May 2017, Mustafa was elected as Vice president of the Coalition, under president Riad Seif. Seif's presidency was marked by clashes with Mustafa. When Seif resigned on health grounds ten months after his election, Mustafa succeeded him to end his term. He later won an uncontested election as president. According to a former SNC official, Mustafa was elected at the request of Turkey, who wanted an opposition leader who would be willing to attend the Russian-sponsored peace talks in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

. In September 2019, Mustafa became the head of the

. His nomination apparently occurred also at the request of the Turkish government, who had repeatedly asked for the removal of his predecessor Jawad Abu Hatab. According to Syria Direct's report, Anas al-Abdah was initially considered for the post of prime minister of the SIG, but Turkey decided to switch his position with Mustafa's, seeing the latter as more compliant. Mustafa's leadership redefined the relationship between the SNC and the SIG: he refused to relinquish his membership once he assumed the presidency of the SIG, and the SNC was forced to amend its internal rules. Mustafa also rejected the SIG's subordination to the SNC. He was later influential in getting Hadi al-Bahra to return as president of the SNC. Overall, Mustafa played a key role in the SNC's subordination to Turkish interests. After the

fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...

, Mustafa announced on 30 January 2025 that the SIG was placing itself "at the disposal" of the new

Syrian transitional government The Syrian transitional government () is the current provisional government of Syria, formed on 29 March 2025 under President Ahmed al-Sharaa. It succeeded the Syrian caretaker government headed by Mohammed al-Bashir. The government was ...

. On 19 March 2025, Mustafa met with Syrian President

Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa, Abdurrahman Living people 1964 births Syrian Turkmen politicians People from Aleppo Governorate Syrian Turkmen Assembly University of Aleppo alumni National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces members Prime ministers