Bashar al-Assad: Ophthalmologist turned dictator in Syria

After Bassel’s death, preparations began for his younger brother to become the successor to the Syrian kingdom.

He later became the president during which Syria fell into a terrible civil war that caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions.

But how did Bashar al-Assad change from a doctor to a dictator accused of war crimes?

Bashar al-Assad who was born in 1965, is the son of Hafez al-Assad and Anisa Makhlouf.

His birth came at an important time for the Arab region.

When regionalism is increasing among the people, the situation dominates the political affairs in different countries of the region, including Syria.

At this time, the Ba’ath party seized power from the Egyptian-Syrian allies – which did not stay in power for long – where the party propagated the ideology of Arab nationalism.

Like many Arab countries at that time, Syria also does not follow the democratic system and does not make elections based on the system of many parties.

Assad and his family are from the Alawite tribe, who have been the most backward in Syria, whose poor economy has forced many members of the tribe to join the military in the country.

Hafez al-Assad became famous as one of the most prominent soldiers who supported the Ba’ath party, where in 1966 he was appointed the minister of defense.

Hafez al-Assad later became president in 1971, a position he held until his death in 2000.

This long time he has been in power, is a big event in the country of Syria which has experienced many coups since independence.

He ruled as a dictator, suppressed the opposition and opposed any democratic elections.

However, he was determined in terms of international relations, where he made an alliance with the Soviet Union and joined the alliance of forces supported by the United States during the Gulf War.

From the beginning, Bashar took a different path, not politics, not military work. He decided to study medicine.

After graduating from the University of Damascus, he returned to the UK in 1992 to specialize in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital in London.

A special report compiled by the BBC in 2018 entitled ‘A Dangerous Dynasty: The Assads’, Bashar held his verse in London.

He was a fan of the British singer, Phil Collins and embraced European culture.

It was in the city of London that Bashar al-Assad met his wife, Asma al-Alhras.

At that time, Asma was studying computer science at King’s College in London, which later got into Harvard University to do a second degree in business education.

The fact that he is the second son of their father, Bashir’s brother, that is Bassel is the one who is more famous and it is believed that he will inherit the kingdom of their father.

But Bassel’s death in January 1994 changed Bashar’s life.

He was immediately called to return home to start preparing him as the next president of Syria.

From there, Bashar joined the army and began to show himself to the community in his efforts to gain acceptance as the next president of the country.

Hafez al-Assad died in 2000, and Basar, who was 34 years old, was immediately appointed as the new president after the country’s constitution was changed by reducing the minimum age for the presidency from 40.

Bashar took the oath of office in 2000 and introduced a new system of governance. He said that government work will be done openly, and he brought up the issue of democracy, national development and modernization, and he said that justice will be done.

A few months after becoming president, Bashar married his wife Asma al-Akhras. They also had three children: Hafez, Zein and Karim.

First of all, Bashar’s promises on changing the political system and improving the freedom of the media created a good hope among the people.

His leadership style and the presence of his wife Asma who studied in European countries is like a new way of life has been introduced in the country.

In the first years, there was freedom to debate on national issues, which was called the revival of Damascus, but by 2001, the security forces returned to their behavior and arrested opposition critics of the government.

While Bashar came up with some economic plans that boosted the sector of private investors, this helped in the rise of his brother Makhlouf’s business. Makhlouf became a wealthy businessman who critics alleged was helped by the use of power.

The 2003 Iraq war led to a deterioration in relations between Bashar al-Assad and Western governments. The president of Syria has opposed the American leaders in Iraq, which some have linked to the fact that he is afraid that the United States will attack Syria when it is done with Iraq.

For its part, the United States accused Syria of allowing freedom fighters against its invasion of Iraq to transport weapons into Iraq, and allowing them to cross the border between the two countries.

In 2004, the United States imposed sanctions on Syria based on several reasons, in addition to the Iraq war and the presence of Syria in Lebanon.

In February 2005, the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, who was one of the main critics of Syria’s presence in Lebanon, was killed.

Syria was immediately accused of involvement in the incident. However, Assad and Hezbollah continue to deny involvement, despite the fact that an international court arrested a member of Hezbollah for the murder in 2000.

In the first 10 years of Abashar al-Assad’s rule, Syria’s relationship with Iran became stronger, as well as its relationship with Qatar and Turkey, but later the relationship became strained.

His relationship with Saudi Arabia has also been strained, even though Saudi Arabia has supported al-Assad from the beginning.

It can be said that he followed his father’s footsteps in dealing with foreign countries, by being careful and avoiding public appearances.

However, in the meantime, a fruit seller in Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire after a police officer slapped him, which led to the uprising that brought down the government of President Zine El Abidine Ben. Ali.

This uprising has spread to Arab countries, such as Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain, and it has ended in Syria.

By March, protests broke out in the city of Damascus and spread to Daraa after the arrest of some children who had written words against President Assad.

It was only after two points before the president of Syria addressed his people.

He also gave a speech in the parliament where he promised to crush what he called the ‘coup’ that is being planned on Syria, despite the fact that he agreed that the community is right about some of their complaints.

Within a few months, the rebellion has turned into a clash between the government forces and the opposition, who have also taken up arms across the country.

As the situation worsened, the United Nations estimated that the number of people who lost their lives rose from tens to hundreds to thousands after foreign countries intervened in the matter.

Russia, Iran and other groups supported by Iran have been helping the government forces under President Assad, while Turkey and other Gulf countries have been helping the rebels.

Although the uprising began as an opposition to the Assad regime and calls for democracy and human rights, it soon turned into an ethnic one, with some opponents accusing the government of showing that she prefers the Alawites over the Sunnis who are the majority in the country.

Suddenly things changed, the division widened. Militant groups have been supporting the Sunnis and criticizing the Alawites, while Shiite militia groups loyal to Iran, led by Hezbollah, have flowed into Syria to help the Assad government in the conflict.

In view of this, the IS group, which is active in neighboring Iraq, took advantage of the opportunity to establish a camp in Syria, where it declared control over a part of Syria and declared the city of Raqqa as its capital.

In August 2013, a chemical attack killed hundreds of people in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area near Damascus.

The West and the opposition blamed the Assad regime for this.

By 2015, President Assad’s government was about to collapse after losing control of many areas of the country. But military aid from Russia changed the situation, where Assad recaptured some areas.

Between 2018 and 202, the agreements reached inside and outside the region gave the government forces control over many areas of the country, while other militant and Kurdish groups held sway in the north and northeast of the country.

This reinvigorated the Assad regime and allowed him to return to the diplomatic arena in the region.

But suddenly, in October 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, which led to the outbreak of war in Gaza, the effects of which flowed into Lebanon, and affected the Hezbollah group linked to Assad.

The conflict took a toll on Hezbollah, including the assassination of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

On the same day that the cease-fire agreement was reached in Lebanon, the Syrian rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a surprise attack, immediately seizing control of Aleppo, the second largest city. in Syria.

The group continued to invade like wildfire, taking control of the city of Hama and many others, while the southern part of the country escaped from the control of the government.

Assad is in a bad situation as his main allies like Russia failed to help.