![](https://www.longwarjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/19-02-05-Ayman-al-Zawahiri-The-Way-to-Salvation.png)
Zawahiri criticizes jihadists in Syria for clinging to territory under Turkey’s protection
In a message released on Feb. 5, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri harshly criticizes the jihadists in Syria. He says they are engaged in a misguided “competition” for “imagined authority” over territory that is under the oversight “of secular Turkish checkpoints.”