Anas al-Abdah (, born 1967) is a

Syrian 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 ...

politician who served as President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces from 2019 to 2020.

Early life

Anas al-Abdah was born in a suburb of

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 ...

. He later studied

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

in the

Yarmouk University Yarmouk University (), also abbreviated YU, is a comprehensive public and state supported university located near the city centre of Irbid in northern Jordan. Since its establishment in 1976, it has been at the forefront of Jordanian and Middle E ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

at the

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Political history

In 2006 Anas al-Abdah and other Syrian opposition activists founded the

Movement for Justice and Development in Syria The Movement for Justice and Development in Syria () is a political party and movement founded in the year 2006 and based in London, United Kingdom. The group describes itself as "committed to peaceful, democratic change in Syria, and the creation ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In the same year, he joined the

Damascus Declaration The Damascus Declaration () was a statement of unity by Syrian opposition figures issued in October 2005. It criticized the Assad regime as "authoritarian, totalitarian and cliquish," and called for "peaceful, gradual," reform "founded on accor ...

and became one of its representatives abroad. After the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, he co-founded the

Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...

and was elected as the council's secretariat. The council later joined 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 ...

. Anas al-Abdah became a part of the SNC's delegate at the

Geneva II Conference on Syria The Geneva II Conference on Syria (also called Geneva II Middle East peace conference or simply Geneva IIUN News Center. ''Preparations for upcoming Syria peace conference 'on track,’ says UN chief''. "The goal of the so-called "Geneva II" ...

. On 5 March 2016, Anas al-Abdah was elected as the president of the National Coalition, succeeding Khaled Khoja. On 9 November 2016, the National Coalition under Nas al-Abdah sent congratulations to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

after the latter was elected as the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. He also called on

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as President of Germany since 2017. He was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again f ...

to impose

economic sanctions Economic sanctions or embargoes are Commerce, commercial and Finance, financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of Coercion (international relations), coercion tha ...

on Russia. On 5 December 2016, Anas al-Abdah, spoke in a press conference in

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

, that the Rojava Peshmerga forces based in Iraqi Kurdistan would be a stabilizing factor if they moved to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and supported the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

factions backed by the SNC. He said that the offensive the YPG-led

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

(SDF) launched last month to retake the city of

Raqqa Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and b ...

, will lead to sectarian conflicts in the future as YPG and allied groups such as FSA groups are not qualified militarily and civically for retaking Raqqa, only FSA groups supported by the SNC are the qualified force to retake Raqqa. He resigned from his post on 6 May 2017 and was replaced by Riad Seif. On 29 June 2019 he was elected again as President of the Syrian National Coalition, replacing

Abdurrahman Mustafa Abdurrahman Mustafa (; born 1 January 1964) is a Syrian Turkmen 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 ...

, whom he appointed the following day as 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). According to a

Syria Direct Syria Direct or Syria:direct (), founded in 2013, is an independent news organization based in Berlin, Germany, that provides news coverage on Syria's war and politics, and trains journalists. It was originally funded in Amman, Jordan by an America ...

report, al-Abdah had been considered as Prime Minister of the SIG, but the SNC's Turkish backers eventually decided to switch their positions so al-Abdah would become president of the SNC while Mustafa headed the SIG.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdah, Anas 1967 births Living people National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces members 21st-century Syrian politicians Yarmouk University alumni Alumni of Newcastle University Politicians from Damascus