Hashim al-Atassi was a Syrian politician and statesman who served as the President of Syria on three occasions from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951 and 1954 to 1955.
Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name محمود, common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning praise, along with Muhammad.
Damascus University is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University through the merger of the Medical School and the Institute of Law. It adopted its current name after the founding of the University of Aleppo in 1958.
Adib al-Shishakli was a Syrian military officer who served as President of Syria briefly in 1951 and later from 1953 to 1954. He was overthrown and later assassinated.
Noureddin Mustafa Ali al-Atassi was a Syrian politician who served as the 17th president of Syria from February 1966 to November 1970.
Syrian Turkmen are Syrian citizens of Turkish origin who mainly trace their roots to Anatolia. Turkish-speaking Syrian Turkmen make up the third largest ethnic group in the country, after the Arabs and Kurds respectively.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates is a cabinet ministry of Syria, responsible for conducting foreign relations of the country. The ministry oversees the expression of Syrian foreign policy, the protection of the interests of the Syrian nations and the interests of Syrian citizens abroad, as well as the representation of the country to other countries and international organizations.
Lutfi al-Haffar was a Syrian businessman and politician. He was a founding member of the National Bloc and served as 11th Prime Minister of Syria in 1939.
Nasib al-Bakri was a Syrian politician and nationalist leader in the first half of the 20th century. He played a major role in establishing al-Fatat, an underground organization which sought the independence and unity of the Ottoman Empire's Arab territories. As the chief envoy between al-Fatat and the Hejaz-based Hashemites, al-Bakri became a close aide to Emir Faisal when the latter became King of Syria following the success of the 1916 Arab Revolt. Al-Bakri opposed the establishment of the French Mandate of Syria and became one of the chief commanders of the Great Syrian Revolt, leading the rebels' brief capture of Damascus. He escaped a death warrant in Syria in 1927, but returned the following year after being amnestied.
Mohammed Ziad al-Hariri is a former prominent Syrian Army officer. A staunch Arab nationalist, he supported the union between Syria and Egypt in 1958, opposed Syria's secession from it in 1961 and served as the chief leader of the coup d'état that toppled the secessionist government in March 1963. Politically independent from the Nasserists and their Ba'athist rivals, Hariri served as the army's chief of staff following the coup and was briefly defense minister until being dismissed during a wide-scale purge of non-Ba'athists from the military. He retired from political activity soon afterward.
