Presidency of Bashar al-Assad

Last updated

Bashar al-Assad in May 2024.png
Presidency of Bashar al-Assad
17 July 2000 –8 December 2024
Bashar al-Assad

The presidency of Bashar al-Assad began on 17 July 2000 succeeding his father, Hafez al-Assad who served as President of Syria from 1971 until his death on 10 June 2000, [1] until his overthrow in 2024 during the Syrian civil war on 8 December. [2]

Contents

Assad's early economic liberalisation programs worsened inequalities and centralized the socio-political power of the loyalist Damascene elite of the Assad family, alienating the Syrian rural population, urban working classes, businessmen, industrialists, and people from once-traditional Ba'ath strongholds. The Cedar Revolution in Lebanon in February 2005, triggered by the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, forced Assad to end the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.

In 2011 Arab Spring protests began in Syria to which Assad responded with a brutal crackdown during the events of the Syrian revolution, which led to the Syrian civil war. The United States, European Union, and the majority of the Arab League called for Assad to resign. The civil war has killed around 580,000 people, of which a minimum of 306,000 deaths are non-combatant; according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, pro-Assad forces caused more than 90% of those civilian deaths. [3] The Assad government perpetrated numerous war crimes during the course of the Syrian civil war, [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] while its army has carried out several attacks with chemical weapons (most notably, the Ghouta chemical attack which killed hundreds mostly civilians on 21 August 2013) [9] [10] The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that findings from an inquiry by the UN implicated Assad in war crimes, and he faced international investigations and condemnation for his actions.

In November 2024, a coalition of Syrian rebels mounted several offensives against the country with the intention of ousting Assad. [11] [12] On the morning of 8 December, as rebel troops first entered Damascus, Assad fled to Moscow and was granted political asylum by the Russian government. [13] [14] Later that day, Damascus fell to rebel forces, and Assad's regime collapsed. [15] [16] [17]

Academics and analysts characterized Assad's presidency as a highly personalist dictatorship, [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] which governed Syria as a totalitarian police state [24] [25] [26] [27] and was marked by numerous human rights violations and severe repression. While the Assad government described itself as secular, various political scientists and observers noted that his regime exploited sectarian tensions in the country. Although Assad inherited the power structures and personality cult nurtured by his father, he lacked the loyalty received by his father and faced rising discontent against his rule. As a result, many people from his father's regime resigned or were purged, and the political inner circle was replaced by staunch loyalists from Alawite clans.

Background

In 1988, Assad graduated from medical school and began working as an army doctor at Tishreen Military Hospital on the outskirts of Damascus. [28] [29] Four years later, he settled in London to start postgraduate training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital. [30] He was described as a "geeky I.T. guy" during his time in London. [31] Bashar had few political aspirations, [32] and his father had been grooming Bashar's older brother Bassel as the future president. [33] Bashar lacked interest in politics or the military unlike Bassel, his younger brother Maher, and second sister Bushra. [34] [35] [36] The Assad children reportedly rarely saw their father, [37] and Bashar later stated that he only entered his father's office once while he was president. [38]

On 21 January 1994, Bassel was driving his luxury Mercedes at a high speed through fog to Damascus International Airport for a privately chartered flight to Frankfurt, Germany, on his way to a ski vacation in the Alps in the early hours of the morning), [39] [40] [41] Bassel collided with a barrier and, not wearing a seatbelt, died instantly. [42] Hafez Makhlouf was with him and was hospitalized with injuries after the accident; a chauffeur in the back seat was unhurt. [42]

Soon after Bassel's death, Hafez al-Assad decided to make Bashar the new heir apparent. [43] Over the next six and a half years, until his death in 2000, Hafez prepared Bashar for taking over power. General Bahjat Suleiman, an officer in the Defense Companies, was entrusted with overseeing preparations for a smooth transition, [44] [37] which were made on three levels. First, support was built up for Bashar in the military and security apparatus. Second, Bashar's image was established with the public. And lastly, Bashar was familiarised with the mechanisms of running the country. [45]

To establish his credentials in the military, Bashar entered the military academy at Homs in 1994 and was propelled through the ranks to become a colonel of the elite Syrian Republican Guard in January 1999. [28] [46] [47] To establish a power base for Bashar in the military, old divisional commanders were pushed into retirement, and new, young, Alawite officers with loyalties to him took their place. [48]

In 1998, Bashar took charge of Syria's Lebanon file, which had since the 1970s been handled by Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, who had until then been a potential contender for president. [48] By taking charge of Syrian affairs in Lebanon, Bashar was able to push Khaddam aside and establish his own power base in Lebanon. [49] In the same year, after minor consultation with Lebanese politicians, Bashar installed Emile Lahoud, a loyal ally of his, as the President of Lebanon and pushed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri aside, by not placing his political weight behind his nomination as prime minister. [50] To further weaken the old Syrian order in Lebanon, Bashar replaced the long-serving de facto Syrian High Commissioner of Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan, with Rustum Ghazaleh. [51]

Parallel to his military career, Bashar was engaged in public affairs. He was granted wide powers and became head of the bureau to receive complaints and appeals of citizens, and led a campaign against corruption. As a result of this campaign, many of Bashar's potential rivals for president were put on trial for corruption. [28] Bashar also became the President of the Syrian Computer Society and helped to introduce the internet in Syria, which aided his image as a modernizer and reformer. Ba'athist loyalists in the party, military, and the Alawite sect were supportive of Bashar al-Assad, enabling him to become his father's successor. [52]

Early years

Then Defence Minister Mustafa Tlass alongside Bashar al-Assad, 1 August 2000. Tlass and his son Manaf Tlass later defected after the Syrian revolution. TlassBashar.webp
Then Defence Minister Mustafa Tlass alongside Bashar al-Assad, 1 August 2000. Tlass and his son Manaf Tlass later defected after the Syrian revolution.
Assad in 2004 AlAsssad2004 militaryuniform.jpg
Assad in 2004

After the death of Hafez al-Assad on 10 June 2000, the Constitution of Syria was amended. The minimum age requirement for the presidency was lowered from 40 to 34, which was Bashar's age at the time. [53] Assad contested as the only candidate and was subsequently confirmed president on 10 July 2000, with 97.29% support for his leadership. [54] [55] In line with his role as President of Syria, he was also appointed the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. A series of state elections were held every seven years which Assad won with overwhelming majority of votes. The elections are unanimously regarded by independent observers as a sham process and boycotted by the opposition. [a] [b] The last two elections – held in 2014 and 2021 – were conducted only in areas controlled by the Syrian government during the country's ongoing civil war and condemned by the United Nations. [65] [66] [67]

Syrian civil war

Downfall

On 27 November 2024, the Syrian opposition would launch an offensive against the Assad regime. On the 8 December the opposition groups captured Damascus. [68] The Fall of Damascus would lead to the collapse of the Assad regime and the end of his presidency. [69] Assad and his family then left the country to go to Moscow and were granted asylum by the Russian government. [70]

Policies

Domestic

Foreign relations

References and notes

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ "Bashar al-Assad: Sudden downfall ends decades of family's iron rule". BBC News. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  2. ↑ Christou, William; McKernan, Bethan (8 December 2024). "Syrians celebrate fall of Bashar al-Assad after five decades of dynastic rule". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "Civilian Death Toll". SNHR. September 2022. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  4. ↑ Robertson QC, Geoffrey (2013). "11: Justice in Demand". Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice (4th ed.). New York: The New Press. pp. 560–562, 573, 595–607. ISBN   978-1-59558-860-9.
  5. ↑ Syria Freedom Support Act; Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2011. Washington DC: Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives. 2012. pp. 221–229.
  6. ↑ Vohra, Anchal (16 October 2020). "Assad's Horrible War Crimes Are Finally Coming to Light Under Oath". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  7. ↑ "German court finds Assad regime official guilty of crimes against humanity". Daily Sabah. 13 January 2022. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  8. ↑ Nosakhare, Whitney Martina (15 March 2022). "Some Hope in the Struggle for Justice in Syria: European Courts Offer Survivors a Path Toward Accountability". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "Security Council Deems Syria's Chemical Weapon's Declaration Incomplete". United Nations: Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. 6 March 2023. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  10. ↑ "Fifth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention". European Union External Action. 15 May 2023. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  11. ↑ Abdulrahim, Raja (7 December 2024). "The leader of Syria's rebels told The Times that their aim is to oust al-Assad". The New York Times . Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  12. ↑ "Syrian army command tells officers that Assad's rule has ended, officer says". Reuters. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  13. ↑ Gebeily, Maya; Azhari, Timour (8 December 2024). "Syria's Assad and his family are in Moscow after Russia granted them asylum, say Russian news agencies". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  14. ↑ "Bashar al-Assad and family given asylum in Moscow, Russian media say". BBC News. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  15. ↑ "Syrian rebels topple President Assad, prime minister calls for free elections". Reuters . 7 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  16. ↑ "Assad flees to Moscow after rebels take Syrian capital, Russian state media report". CBC News . 9 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  17. ↑ "Syria's President Bashar al Assad is in Moscow and has been granted asylum, confirms Russian state media". 8 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  18. ↑ Svolik, Milan. "The Politics of Authoritarian Rule". Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  19. ↑ Weeks, Jessica (2014). Dictators at War and Peace. Cornell University Press. p. 18.
  20. ↑ Wedeen, Lisa (2018). Authoritarian Apprehensions. Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning. University of Chicago Press. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019.
  21. ↑ Hinnebusch, Raymond (2012). "Syria: from 'authoritarian upgrading' to revolution?". International Affairs. 88 (1): 95–113. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2346.2012.01059.x.
  22. ↑ Michalik, Susanne (2015). "Measuring Authoritarian Regimes with Multiparty Elections". In Michalik, Susanne (ed.). Multiparty Elections in Authoritarian Regimes: Explaining their Introduction and Effects. Studien zur Neuen Politischen Ökonomie. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. pp. 33–45. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-09511-6_3. ISBN   978-3658095116.
  23. ↑ Geddes, Barbara; Wright, Joseph; Frantz, Erica (2018). How Dictatorships Work. Cambridge University Press. p. 233. doi:10.1017/9781316336182. ISBN   978-1-316-33618-2. S2CID   226899229.
  24. ↑ Khamis, Sahar; Gold, Paul B.; Vaughn, Katherine (2013). "22. Propaganda in Egypt and Syria's "Cyberwars": Contexts, Actors, Tools, and Tactics". In Auerbach, Castronovo; Jonathan, Russ (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 422. ISBN   978-0-19-976441-9.
  25. ↑ Wieland, Carsten (2018). "6: De-neutralizing Aid: All Roads Lead to Damascus". Syria and the Neutrality Trap: The Dilemmas of Delivering Humanitarian Aid Through Violent Regimes. London: I. B. Tauris. p. 68. ISBN   978-0-7556-4138-3.
  26. ↑ Ahmed, Saladdin (2019). Totalitarian Space and the Destruction of Aura. State University of New York Press, Albany: Suny Press. pp. 144, 149. ISBN   9781438472911.
  27. ↑ Hensman, Rohini (2018). "7: The Syrian Uprising". Indefensible: Democracy, Counterrevolution, and the Rhetoric of Anti-Imperialism. Chicago: Haymarket Books. ISBN   978-1-60846-912-3.
  28. 1 2 3 "Ladno.ru" Асад Башар : биография [Bashar Assad: A Biography]. Ladno (in Russian). Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  29. ↑ Beeston, Richard; Blanford, Nick (22 October 2005). "We are going to send him on a trip. Bye, bye Hariri. Rot in hell". The Times . London. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  30. ↑ Leverett 2005, p. 60.
  31. ↑ "How Syria's 'Geeky' President Went From Doctor to Dictator". NBC News. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  32. ↑ Minahan 2002, p. 83.
  33. ↑ Tucker & Roberts 2008, p. 167.
  34. ↑ Zisser 2007, p. 21.
  35. ↑ Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview" (PDF). Comparative Strategy. 25 (5). The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy Institute for Policy and Strategy: 16, 379. doi:10.1080/01495930601105412. S2CID   154739379. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  36. ↑ Ciezadlo, Annia (19 December 2013). "Bashar Al Assad: An Intimate Profile of a Mass Murderer". The New Republic. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  37. 1 2 Khalaf, Roula (15 June 2012). "Bashar al-Assad: behind the mask" . Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  38. ↑ Belt, Don (November 2009). "Syria". National Geographic . pp. 2, 9. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  39. ↑ Theroux, Paul (1996). The Pillars of Hercules, page 416. Penguin books. ISBN   978-0-14-025314-6.
  40. ↑ Bell, Don (November 2009). "Shadowland". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  41. ↑ "Basil Assad killed in car crash". The Press Courier. 21 January 1994. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  42. 1 2 Sipress, Alan (22 January 1994). "Assad's Son is Killed in a Car". Inquirer. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  43. ↑ Zisser 2007, p. 35.
  44. ↑ Gresh, Alain (July 2020). "Syria: the rise and rise of Doctor Bashar". Le Monde diplomatique . Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  45. ↑ Leverett 2005, p. 61.
  46. ↑ Zisser 2007, p. 30.
  47. ↑ "CNN Transcript – Breaking News: President Hafez Al-Assad Assad of Syria Confirmed Dead". CNN. 10 June 2000. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  48. 1 2 Ma'oz, Ginat & Winckler 1999, p. 41.
  49. ↑ Zisser 2007, pp. 34–35.
  50. ↑ Blanford 2006, pp. 69–70.
  51. ↑ Blanford 2006, p. 88.
  52. ↑ "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: Facing down rebellion". BBC News. 21 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  53. ↑ "The rise of Syria's controversial president Bashar al-Assad". ABC News. 7 April 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  54. 1 2 "Syrians Vote For Assad in Uncontested Referendum". The Washington Post . Damascus. Associated Press. 28 May 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  55. 1 2 Yacoub Oweis, Khaleb (17 May 2007). "Syria's opposition boycotts vote on Assad". Reuters . Damascus. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  56. ↑ Chulov, Martin (14 April 2014). "The one certainty about Syria's looming election – Assad will win" Archived 21 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian.
  57. ↑ "Syria's Assad wins another term". BBC News. 29 May 2007. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  58. ↑ "Democracy Damascus style: Assad the only choice in referendum". The Guardian. 28 May 2007. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  59. ↑ Cheeseman, Nicholas (2019). How to Rig an Election. Yale University Press. pp. 140–141. ISBN   978-0-300-24665-0. OCLC   1089560229.
  60. ↑ Norris, Pippa; Martinez i Coma, Ferran; Grömping, Max (2015). "The Year in Elections, 2014". Election Integrity Project. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. The Syrian election ranked as worst among all the contests held during 2014.
  61. ↑ Jones, Mark P. (2018). Herron, Erik S; Pekkanen, Robert J; Shugart, Matthew S (eds.). "Presidential and Legislative Elections". The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.001.0001. ISBN   9780190258658. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2024. … unanimous agreement among serious scholars that... al-Assad's 2014 election... occurred within an authoritarian context.
  62. ↑ Makdisi, Marwan (16 July 2014). "Confident Assad launches new term in stronger position". Reuters. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  63. ↑ Evans, Dominic (28 April 2014). "Assad seeks re-election as Syrian civil war rages". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2024.[ dead link ]
  64. ↑ "UK's William Hague attacks Assad's Syria elections plan". BBC News. 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  65. ↑ "Syrians in Lebanon battle crowds to vote for Bashar al-Assad". The Guardian. 28 May 2014. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  66. ↑ "Bashar al-Assad sworn in for a third term as Syrian president" . The Daily Telegraph. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  67. ↑ Kossaify, Ephrem (22 April 2021). "UN reiterates it is not involved in Syrian presidential election". Arab News. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  68. ↑ "Assad flees Syria as rebels seize Damascus". Financial Times. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  69. ↑ "Why the Assad regime collapsed in Syria – and why so fast". France 24 . 8 December 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  70. ↑ Gritten, David (8 December 2024). "Bashar al-Assad and family given asylum in Moscow, Russian media say". BBC News . Retrieved 15 December 2024.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Ba'athist Syria</span>

During the final decade of Ba'ath party rule, the politics of Syria took place in the framework of a presidential republic with nominal multi-party representation in People's Council under the Ba'athist-dominated National Progressive Front. In practice, Ba'athist Syria remained a one-party state where independent parties are outlawed, with a powerful secret police that cracked down on dissidents. From the 1963 seizure of power by its neo-Ba'athist Military Committee to the fall of the Assad regime, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party governed Syria as a totalitarian police state. After a period of intra-party strife, Hafez al-Assad gained control of the party following the 1970 coup d'état and his family dominated the country's politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hafez al-Assad</span> President of Syria from 1971 to 2000

Hafez al-Assad was a Syrian politician and military officer who served as the 18th president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He had previously served as prime minister of Syria from 1970 to 1971 as well as regional secretary of the regional command of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and secretary general of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party from 1970 to 2000. Hafez al-Assad was a key participant in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, which brought the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power in the country, a power that lasted until the fall of the regime in 2024, then led by his son Bashar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashar al-Assad</span> President of Syria from 2000 to 2024

Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician and military officer who served as the 19th president of Syria from 2000 until his government was overthrown by Syrian rebels in 2024. As president, Assad was the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who was the president from 1971 until his death in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walid Jumblatt</span> Lebanese politician (born 1949)

Walid Kamal Jumblatt is a Lebanese politician who was the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party from 1977 until 2023. A Druze and former militia commander, Jumblatt led the Lebanese National Resistance Front and allied with the Amal Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. He worked closely with Suleiman Frangieh to oppose Amine Gemayel's rule as president in 1983. After the civil war, he initially supported Syria but later led an anti-Assad stance during the start of the Syrian Civil War. He is still active in politics, most recently leading his party, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in the 2022 Lebanese general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Syria</span>

A civil war has been occurring in Syria since 2011, following the events of the 2011 Syrian Revolution, part of the international wave of protest known as the Arab Spring. The government, led by Bashar al-Assad, son of previous leader Hafez al-Assad, was based in Damascus until its overthrow on 8 December 2024, the traditional capital. The Ba'athist government conducted Presidential elections and parliamentary elections to the People's Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bassel al-Assad</span> Syrian engineer, soldier, and politician (1962–1994)

Bassel al-Assad was a Syrian engineer, soldier, and politician. He was the eldest son of the 18th Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. He was expected to succeed his father as president until his death in a car accident in January 1994. After his death, his younger brother Bashar, became heir apparent to the Syrian presidency and ultimately succeeded their father upon his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rifaat al-Assad</span> Syrian general and politician (born 1937)

Rifaat Ali al-Assad is a Syrian former military officer and politician. He is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the former President Bashar al-Assad. He was the commanding officer of the ground operations of the 1982 Hama massacre ordered by his brother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Halim Khaddam</span> Syrian politician (1932–2020)

Abdul Halim Khaddam was a Syrian politician who served as interim President of Syria in 2000. He also was Vice President of Syria and the Syrian High Commissioner to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was a long known loyalist of Hafez al-Assad. He resigned from his position and left the country in 2005 in protest against certain policies of Hafez's son and successor, Bashar al-Assad. He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: a Credit Suisse account in his name, opened in 1994, had nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, per Suisse secrets. This puts Khaddam and his family's net worth at $1.1 billion, making them one of the wealthiest and most influential political families in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maher al-Assad</span> Syrian general and commander of the 4th Division

Major General Maher Hafez al-Assad is a Syrian former military officer who served as commander of the Syrian Army's elite 4th Armoured Division, which, together with Syria's Military Intelligence, formed the core of the country's security forces until the collapse of Al-Assad's regime in 2024. He is the younger brother of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and also was a member of the Central Committee of the Syrian Ba'ath Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assef Shawkat</span> Syrian intelligence chief and politician (1950–2012)

Assef Shawkat was a Syrian military officer and intelligence chief who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012. He was the brother-in-law of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, having married his older sister Bushra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushra al-Assad</span> Daughter of Syrian president Hafez al-Assad

Bushra al-Assad is the first child and only daughter of Hafez al-Assad, who was the president of Syria from 1971 to 2000. She is the sister of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. She is the widow of Assef Shawkat, the deputy chief of staff of the Syrian Armed Forces and former head of the Syrian Military Intelligence, who was killed in the 18 July 2012 explosion in Damascus claimed by a coalition of Syrian opposition rebel groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Force Intelligence Directorate</span> Syrian intelligence agency

The Air Force Intelligence Directorate was the intelligence service of Syria from 1963 until 2024, owing its importance to Hafez al-Assad's role as the Air Force commander. Despite its name, it was mainly involved with issues other than air force intelligence, and took an active part in the suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood rebellion in the 1980s. Agents of this service have frequently been stationed in Syrian embassies or branch offices of the national airline.

Hafez Mohamad Makhlouf, also known as Hafez Makhlouf, is a Syrian brigadier general and intelligence officer who headed the Damascus branch of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. He was a member of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's inner circle of close supporters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bouthaina Shaaban</span> Syrian politician, academic and author

Bouthaina Shaaban is a Syrian politician who served as political and media adviser to the presidency under Bashar al-Assad until his overthrow in 2024. Shaaban had also previously served as the first Minister of Expatriates for the Syrian Arab Republic, between 2002 and 2008, and was described as the Syrian government's face to the outside world at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assad family</span> Syrian political family

The Assad family ruled Syria from 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became president under the Ba'ath Party following the 1970 Coup, until Bashar al-Assad was ousted on December 8, 2024. Bashar succeeded his father after Hafez's death in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armenia–Syria relations</span> Bilateral relations

Armenian–Syrian relations are foreign relations between Armenia and Syria. Armenia has an embassy in Damascus and a consulate general in Aleppo. In 1997, Syria opened an embassy in Yerevan. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa visited Armenia in March 1992.

Ali Issa Ibrahim Duba, better known as Ali Douba, was a Syrian military officer who was the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate of Syria under Hafez al-Assad as well as his close adviser. Under Douba’s leadership, the Military Intelligence Directorate was the most important security agency in Syria, responsible for maintaining security within the army and safeguarding the regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region</span> Neo-Baathist political party in Syria

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, officially the Syrian Regional Branch, was a neo-Ba'athist organisation founded on 7 April 1947 by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and followers of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party ruled Syria from the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, which brought the Ba'athists to power, until 8 December 2024, when Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus in the face of a rebel offensive during the Syrian Civil War. The party suspended all activities on 11 December 2024 until further notice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anisa Makhlouf</span> Former first lady of Syria (1930–2016)

AnisaMakhlouf was the matriarch of the Syrian Al-Assad family, which ruled the country from 1971 to December 2024. The wife of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Makhlouf remained the Syrian First Lady from 1971 until 2000. Her son Bashar al-Assad was President of Syria from 2000 until the Assad regime was overthrown in 2024.

Hafez al-Assad, the 18th president of Syria, died from a heart attack on 10 June 2000 at the age of 69. His funeral was held three days later in Damascus, and he was buried in a mausoleum in his hometown Qardaha in Latakia Governorate, beside his eldest son Bassel al-Assad who died in 1994.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.