Afghanistan's Taliban rulers were quick to congratulate fellow Islamists from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.
As the HTS fighters seized the capital, Damascus, on December 8, the Taliban said it hoped that the group would "lay the foundations of a sovereign and service-oriented Islamic government."
But over two weeks on, the HTS, a U.S. and EU-designated terrorist organization, appears keen on distinguishing itself from the way the Taliban has governed Afghanistan.
Its leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously known by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, has publicly pledged to adopt moderate policies compared to the Taliban's extremist approach to women's rights, national reconciliation, and relations with the international community.
"There are many differences between Syria and the Taliban," Sharaa told the BBC last week. "The way we govern is different."
Women
Sharaa said that his government would allow women to get an education. He said that in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, ruled by the HTS for the past eight years, more than 60 percent of university students were women. He also said Christian women would not be forced to observe the veil.
The Taliban banned teenage girls from grade 7 and above one month after seizing the capital, Kabul, in August 2021. It also prohibited women from university and professional education in December 2022.
In 1996, the Taliban took over Afghanistan and established a government that strictly adhered to Islamic law. A U.S.-led coalition overthrew them in 2001, but they reorganized as an insurgent force and eventually reclaimed power in 2021 after U.S. and NATO forces left.
Senior Taliban leaders have adopted a "fringe opinion" of Islamic Shari'a law to enforce the ban, which is opposed internationally and by many inside Afghanistan.
The HTS, however, is not in favor of full freedom for women and is considering various restrictions and limitations. "Regarding women assuming judicial authority, this is a subject for researchers and study by experts," said Obaida Arnaout, a spokesman for the HTS-led interim administration.
Arnaout has similar views about women's work in the parliament and government.
His comments provoked protests from women's rights activists who warned the Islamist group against imposing religious rule.
'Unity And Reconciliation'
The HTS's main political message is unity and reconciliation among Syria's diverse ethnic, religious, and sectarian groups, some of whom have been fighting a bitter civil war since 2011.
The Islamist HTS has appointed a transition government of figures from among its leaders. And it has largely shifted its administration from its northwestern Idlib stronghold to serve as the country’s interim government until March.
But leader Sharaa has pledged national reconciliation and inclusive government institutions.
"Syria is a country for all, and we can coexist together," he told journalists on December 22.
The HTS leader even invited a senior former Ba'athist leader and ex-vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa to participate in a future National Dialogue Conference in the capital. He has repeatedly pledged to work toward a constitution acceptable to all.
This is unlike the Taliban, which, since 2021, has monopolized power. Its theocratic government, led by Taliban clerics, has shunned Afghans who are not Taliban and refrained from writing a constitution.
Despite appointing a caretaker government in September 2021, there is no indication that the Taliban will ever allow the formation of an inclusive national government acceptable to all Afghans.
Foreign Relations
The international community is closely watching Syria's transition and how the HTS responds to fellow Syrians' aspirations.
Sharaa has reportedly impressed diplomats and senior international officials who met with him in Damascus to discuss future governance, counterterrorism, and foreign policies.
The initiative seems to be paying off. On December 20, Washington lifted a $10 million bounty on Sharaa. And the Syrian leader is pushing for a quick end to international sanctions on his country.
"Sanctions must be lifted quickly in order for us to take our country forward," he told journalists alongside the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on December 22.
In Afghanistan, most Taliban leaders remain on UN and U.S. sanctions lists. Some leaders have faced new travel bans and sanctions for imposing the education ban on women and other human rights violations.
As HTS continues to entrench power in Syria, Western officials and diplomats are cautious about taking the militant group at its word.
"The Taliban projected a more moderate face, or at least tried to, in taking over Afghanistan, and then its true colors came out," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York on December 18. "The result is it remains terribly isolated around the world."
Blinken advised "the emerging group in Syria" to focus on "moving the country forward" to avoid international isolation.
