Persons: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Family
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was born on September 11, 1965 in Damascus. The father of the future leader of the Syrian state was Brigadier General Hafez Assad, who soon began to gradually rise through the ranks, taking the post of commander of the Syrian Air Force and Air Defense. After some time, he took the post of Minister of Defense, and in November 1970, Assad Sr. came to power as a result of a military coup. Having headed the ruling Baath Party, in March 1971, Hafez al-Assad was elected president of the country.
Bashar al-Assad was the third child in a large family of the head of the Syrian state. He had an older sister, Bushra, and a brother, Basel, and two younger brothers, Maher and Majid. Due to the heavy employment in public office, Hafez Assad paid little attention to children. Their upbringing was carried out by the wife of the Syrian leader Anis from the wealthy Makhlouf clan. In accordance with tradition, the elder brother Basel Assad was preparing for the post of successor, with whom they were purposefully engaged, presenting him as a replacement for Hafez Assad.
As for Bashar al-Assad, at first he was not interested in politics and did not assume that it was he who would become the leader of Syria for many years. He first entered the prestigious Hurriya French-Arabic Lyceum in Damascus. According to some reports, Bashar was an exemplary student and quickly mastered English and French. In 1980, the future president became interested in aviation and graduated from skydiving courses. Two years later, Assad graduated from the Lyceum and received a bachelor's degree. Then he decided to interrupt his education and entered the military service, demobilizing with the rank of sergeant. In 1985, Bashar decided to continue his studies and entered the medical faculty of Damascus University, graduating with honors in 1988 with a degree in ophthalmology. As a military doctor, he worked for some time in the small border town of Tishrin.
study abroad
In the early 90s, Bashar went to study abroad. The choice fell on the UK. In 1991, the future president completed an internship at the prestigious ophthalmological center Western Eye Hospital at St. Mary's Hospital, located in the London area of Paddington. In order not to draw undue attention to his person, Assad took a pseudonym for himself. In London, he spent time among young Syrian intellectuals, actively participating in major international ophthalmological symposiums. In the same years, Bashar, in addition to medicine, had his second hobby - information technology (by the way, it was thanks to Assad that the Internet and cellular communications appeared in Syria at the beginning of the 2000s). At that time, young Assad was still not interested in politics, but the time came when politics became interested in him.
The path to power
In 1994, a tragedy occurred in the large family of President Hafiz al-Assad, the causes of which are still not fully understood. On January 21, Bashar's older brother Basel, who was preparing to become the new leader of Syria and was respected by young people and the military, died in a car accident. He was in a hurry to the airport, but at some point the car lost control and crashed into a rock. Basel died on the spot. Bashar al-Assad had to urgently interrupt his foreign internship and return home. To become the new successor of Hafez al-Assad. And now Bashar had to put off his medical studies and get to know the basics of political science, law and, of course, military affairs. He entered the military academy of Homs and was enlisted in the Republican Guard division with the rank of captain. Experienced generals were assigned as mentors to the new successor, who were engaged in individual military training with him. According to some reports, high-ranking Russian military men were among Bashar al-Assad's teachers. From 1995 to 1997, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army, led a tank battalion, and defended military research work. During these years, he led the Republican Guard. In early 1999, Bashar was promoted to the rank of colonel. At the same time, the future Syrian "bloody dictator" gradually began to take over from his father the affairs of governing the country. First, he headed the bureau for consideration of complaints and appeals of citizens, and then the campaign against corruption that was being carried out at that time. To help his son, Hafez Assad sent the country's internal security officers. Thanks to their advice, Bashar successfully got rid of well-known public figures in Syria who were preparing to compete with him for the post of head of the Alawite state.
Assad also showed himself in the economic sphere, providing support to young Syrian entrepreneurs abroad. In addition, Bashar began to take an interest in foreign policy, overseeing Syria's relations with its longtime close ally Lebanon (since the Lebanon War in the mid-70s). During these years, he closely communicated with Lebanese public figures and ministers. Political scientists are sure that the new Syrian leader was directly related to the election of General Emile Lahoud as President of Lebanon and the resignation of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 1998. As for other countries, but in 1999 Bashar al-Assad made a big foreign tour of the countries of the Middle East and the states of the Arabian Peninsula. Then there was a trip to France, after which it was decided to replace the constantly ill father in receiving foreign delegations in Damascus.
Young President
Bashar al-Assad became the full-fledged president of Syria in the millennium. On June 10, 2000, Hafez al-Assad died of heart failure. In this regard, the country's parliament passed a law allowing one to become a presidential candidate not at the age of 40, as it was before, but at 34. On June 11, 2000, the acting president of Syria, First Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam, awarded Bashar al-Assad the rank of lieutenant general and appointed him supreme commander of the army. A few days later, a congress of the ruling Baath Party was held in Damascus, at which Bashar al-Assad was appointed Secretary General of the organization instead of his father and nominated as the only candidate for the presidency of the Arab Republic. On June 27, 2000, his candidacy was approved by the parliament, and he himself was appointed acting president of the republic. In July, a popular referendum was held, as a result of which Bashar al-Assad became the new president of the country. 97.29% of voters voted for his candidacy. On July 17, 2000, the new president took the oath. In his inaugural speech, Bashar al-Assad promised to carry out reforms aimed at modernizing the republic, and also said that he would do everything in his power to return the Golan Heights occupied by Israel during the 1967 war.
At the end of the first year of power in the life of Bashar al-Assad, another joyful event occurred. He married Asma Akhras, a young and beautiful representative of a well-known and respected family of Syrian Sunnis in the country. The wife of Bashar al-Assad is an economist and expert in the field of computer technology. She was born and raised in the UK. Assad met Asme during that same internship in London. Interestingly, Ahras has dual citizenship - Syrian and British. To become the first lady of the Arab Republic, she had to give up her career in a prestigious Western bank. Bashar al-Assad and Asma have three children - two sons and a daughter.
First years of government
The beginning of the rule of Bashar al-Assad was marked by liberal steps, which were welcomed in the West. Thus, the new president released hundreds of political prisoners from the Mezze prison. Within a few years, many independent newspapers and magazines appeared in the Arab Republic, private banks, a stock market, and free trade zones were opened. There have also been changes in domestic politics. In 2002, the ruling Ba'ath Party lost its monopoly on conducting work in the socio-political life of the country. In the March 2003 parliamentary elections, independent business candidates were elected for the first time. In addition, for the first time in the renewed government of the country, the majority were not military, but civilians.
Nevertheless, experts draw attention to the half-hearted nature of the first transformations of Bashar al-Assad as president. And first of all, this concerns the state of emergency introduced back in 1963, which allows the authorities to arrest any citizen of the republic for long periods. For the time being, Assad did not begin to cancel this instrument of control over the opposition, and in 2001 many opponents of the new leader - representatives of the Damascus Spring reformist movement - received long prison terms.
Israel's conflict with the Lebanese Hezbollah
In the summer of 2006, an armed conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah began. Bashar al-Assad unconditionally took the side of Beirut, calling Israel a terrorist state and condemning the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana. Israeli planes dropped bombs on the border regions of Lebanon with Syria, trying to block the supply of Syrian weapons to the Lebanese. At the same time, Syrian air defense systems opened fire on Israeli reconnaissance aircraft, which periodically appeared on the border ... However, despite the aggravation of the conflict, Assad still did not dare to declare war on Tel Aviv. Political analysts believe that the Syrian president still hoped to return the Golan.
In 2007, a new nationwide referendum was held, as a result of which the Syrian people entrusted Assad to lead the state for another seven years. This decision was supported by 97.62% of Syrians, which is even slightly more than in 2000. Thus, the majority of the inhabitants of Syria at that time supported Assad's domestic and foreign policy.
Relations with Israel
And in the foreign policy of Syria in 2008-2010 there was a slight lull. Before the storm? The only difficult problem continued to be the relationship between Syria and Israel. The leadership of the two countries tried to resume peace talks. And in this regard, even something began to turn out. Thus, in 2008, with the mediation of Turkey, Damascus softened its demands for the return of the occupied territories by Israel. The Israeli authorities, in turn, were not ready to make concessions, urging Damascus to stop contacts with Iran. Bilateral talks were derailed by Israel's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip in 2010.
"Arab spring"
2011 was perhaps the most difficult year for the entire Middle East and North Africa. The so-called "Arab Spring" began in the region. Opposition rallies began in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen demanding political reforms and the resignation of the permanent leaders of these states, which escalated into uprisings and revolutions. As a result, with the support of Western forces, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen were removed from power. Meanwhile, the bloodiest confrontation between government forces and the opposition took place in Syria, which has resulted in a civil war that has been going on for more than four years.
It all started with a small rally, the participants of which demanded that the authorities lift the state of emergency and carry out reforms to change the political landscape in the Arab Republic. The protesters sought to make room for the Alawite clan and allow Sunni and Shiite Muslims to lead positions in Syria. Here you should stop and tell who the Alawites are, to which the family of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
Alawites, or Nusayrites (named after the founder of the sect, Muhammad ibn Nusayr, IX century) are an influential community in Syria, the number of which is 10-12% of the entire Muslim population of the country. Orthodox Muslims consider the Alawites to be heretics due to the fact that they do not adhere to the generally accepted norms of Islam. They believe in the transmigration of souls and have preserved the cult of the sun, moon and stars. In addition, the Alawites are loyal to Christianity. All Alawites are divided into a group of "hassa" ("initiates") and the bulk - "amma" ("uninitiated"). It was to the latter group that the Assad family always belonged. Alawites in Syria have held leadership positions for a long time, the top of the Baath party consisted mainly of representatives of this community. Shiites, and even more so Sunnis, were not allowed to lead positions. This has always caused their dissatisfaction, which, perhaps, reached its highest stage in 2011 and, together with other factors, such as the poverty of the people, the excessive brutality of government forces, Assad's unwillingness to engage in dialogue with all oppositionists and, of course, the influence of the West, led to armed conflict in Syria.
Armed conflict in Syria
Peaceful protests began in January, and in March the first blood was shed and there were victims. Particularly violent skirmishes were observed in the province of Daraa, where about a hundred people were killed. Bashar al-Assad immediately reacted to this event by dismissing the governor of the region. Nevertheless, the conflict flared up with renewed vigor. At the end of March, Assad promised the opposition to carry out reforms aimed at improving the lives of the population and fighting corruption. The provision in the Syrian constitution that declared the Ba'ath Party "leading and guiding society and government" was soon abolished. The leadership also announced its intention to lift the state of emergency that has been in force in the country since 1963. On March 29, 2011, the government of the Arab Republic resigned, it was announced the formation of a new cabinet. But in April, the protests flared up with renewed vigor. On April 21, Assad decides to lift the state of emergency, which the protesters so insisted on. But this decision did not lead to anything. Then the Syrian leader removes the carrots for the opposition and pulls out a whip: Assad sends an army to help the police. This leads to even more casualties. According to human rights activists, by mid-May 2011, the death toll had reached a thousand people.
In the first half of May, the United States and the European Union impose sanctions against the Syrian authorities. From now on, the export of weapons to this country is prohibited, the accounts of Assad and his entourage in Western banks are frozen, they are deprived of the right to enter Western states.
In August, Assad decides on another measure. He signs a decree on the introduction of a multiparty system in Syria in the country, approved by the government at the end of July. By then, the death toll since the protests began had topped 2,000 civilians.
At the end of September 2011, Great Britain, France and Portugal, with the support of the United States, submit to the vote of the UN Security Council a draft resolution on the introduction of new sanctions measures against Syria. Russia and China veto it. According to Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, this decision was made due to the absence in the document of a clause excluding an armed invasion of Syria.
In November, Syria's membership in the League of Arab States was suspended, and the Arab League members decided to impose sanctions against Damascus. Air communication with Syria is suspended, operations with the Central Bank and the Commercial Bank of the country are suspended, state financial assets are frozen.
On the territory of Turkey, opposition movements - the National Council of Syria and the Free Syrian Army agreed to coordinate their actions against Assad's forces. Gradually, Western countries, in particular France, recognize the legitimacy of these entities, with which President Assad should conduct a dialogue.
In December, the Syrian leadership agrees to cooperate with the Arab League, which proposed a peace plan that provides for the withdrawal of government troops from the cities and the release of political prisoners. Observers of the organization were admitted to the territory of the country. However, in early 2012, the League canceled its monitoring mission in Syria due to increased violence.
On February 4, 2012, Russia and China vetoed a new version of the UN Security Council resolution on Syria proposed by Morocco. According to the Russian side, the document contained "one-sided conclusions about the exclusive responsibility of the Syrian government for the escalation of violence in the country." The decision of China and Russia was criticized by representatives of several other states and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Supporters of the Syrian rebels attack the embassies of Russia and China in Tripoli.
February 15, 2012 Assad takes another step towards the opposition. He approved the draft Constitution, according to which the country refused the legislatively fixed leading role of the Baath party. On February 26, in Syria, as a result of a referendum, the new law was supported by more than 89% of voters. The opposition boycotted the plebiscite, declaring its illegitimacy in connection with the ongoing armed conflict in the country. On May 7, extraordinary parliamentary elections were held in Syria. For the first time, several parties are taking part in the voting. Nevertheless, the opposition is boycotting this vote. The results of the elections show the support of the population of Syria to the current government: Assad's supporters received 73% of the mandates. The West ignores this vote. Moreover, on March 2, 2012, at the EU summit, the opposition National Council of Syria was recognized as "the legitimate representative of the Syrians."
Despite a number of reforms carried out by Assad, the war not only did not stop, but became even more violent. In late May, hundreds of women and children were killed in the opposition-controlled city of Hula. Western countries blamed this crime on Bashar al-Assad. The United States, Canada, Australia and a number of European countries announced the expulsion of Syrian diplomats.
In early 2013, Bashar al-Assad presented his plan to resolve the conflict. He stated in particular:
“The first step in overcoming the crisis should be the obligation of foreign states to stop financial support for terrorists. The second stage is the convening of a government conference on national dialogue. The third is the creation of a new government and the announcement of a general amnesty.”
The initiative did not find support either from the opposition or from the West.
The unfortunate situation in 2012 for the Syrian army in armed confrontation by the beginning of 2013 began to gradually improve. In June, the strategic city of El Quseir on the border with Lebanon was taken, and then, as a result of Operation Northern Storm, control was established over the province of Aleppo. In this regard, the EU lifted the arms embargo against Syria, which allowed some countries to provide assistance to the opposition. Many Sunni Islamists in the Middle East called for jihad against the Assad government. In this regard, many Islamist terrorist groups have emerged, the most powerful of which was the Islamic State, a spin-off from Al-Qaeda.
In August 2013, chemical weapons attacks took place in one of the suburbs of Damascus. In this regard, a number of states accused government troops of this crime and called for a military operation in Syria. The international situation around the country has become even more aggravated. The military operation of the Western countries was prevented thanks to the efforts of Russia. An agreement was reached between the Western state and Syria on the accession of Damascus to the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons and the destruction of stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. On September 13, Bashar al-Assad signed a decree on the accession of his country to the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons.
However, this did not solve the problem of the Syrian confrontation. Moreover, in 2014 the war in Syria faded into the background. The threat from the "Islamic State" came to the fore, the militants of which seized the vast territories of Syria and Iraq, committed and committed terrorist attacks in Turkey, Tunisia, and European countries. The fight against ISIS led to the creation at the end of 2014 of a US-led anti-terrorist coalition, which included many countries of the world. Allies launch airstrikes on Islamist positions in Syria and Iraq. In 2015, Russia also thought about fighting this evil.
Putin on supporting Syria and Bashar al-Assad
In September 2015, at the CSTO summit in Dushanbe, Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid growing concern in the West about media reports of Russian military activity in Syria, spoke in more detail about Moscow's position on the Syrian crisis. “We support the Syrian government in countering terrorist aggression, we provide and will continue to provide it with the necessary military-technical assistance. We call on other countries to join us,” Vladimir Putin said.
Assad on the "Islamic State" and the problem of refugees
The day before, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave a long interview to Russian journalists. In it, he, in particular, outlined his vision of the problem of combating ISIS terrorists and the situation that has developed in recent months with refugees in Europe. According to Assad, Western countries have difficulties in confronting the militants of the "Islamic State" because of their ambiguous position on this issue. They simultaneously fight against terrorism and support it. And with such a view on the problem, the Islamists cannot be defeated, the Syrian leader is sure. According to him, states such as Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia only pretend to be part of the anti-terrorist coalition, but in reality they provide all kinds of support to the radicals.
In addition, Assad dwelled in detail on the origins of the armed confrontation in Syria that began in 2011. In his opinion, the causes of this conflict should be sought in the early 2000s, when the United States and its allies decided to launch an operation against the government of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The Syrian leader recalled that he then categorically opposed Western interference in the affairs of Iraq, as he understood that this conflict would split the country along confessional lines and sooner or later affect Syria. So in the end it happened. In addition, another important point, according to Assad, was the support that Washington provided to militants in Afghanistan, calling them freedom fighters. Later, in 2006, the Islamic State emerged, with which the Americans did not fight for the time being, allowing it to grow into a powerful group.
There can be no dialogue with ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other armed groups that resist the Syrian army, Assad stressed. It is impossible to negotiate with organizations that feed on the ideas of terrorism, they must be fought until they are completely destroyed, the Syrian leader is sure. At the same time, speaking about the political situation in Syria, Assad said in every possible way he maintains contacts between the government and representatives of the moderate opposition. This dialogue, the President of Syria believes, should lead to the achievement of a common position on the future of the country.
Touching on the topic of the influx of migrants to European countries, Assad pointed out that Europe itself is to blame for this problem, linking it with the position of "double standards". According to him, the EU leadership is sad about the refugees who died on the way to the countries of Europe, and does not notice those children, women and the elderly who became victims of militants in Syria. “It does not lend itself to a logical explanation, how one can feel sorry for some victims and not be interested in others. There is no fundamental difference between them. Europe is responsible, as it has supported and continues to support and cover up terrorism,” the President of the Arab Republic noted. The refugee problem in Europe will be resolved the moment EU leaders stop supporting terrorists in Syria, Assad is convinced.
Information prepared by Ivan Rakovich.
