The story of the democratic reforms at the beginning of Bashar-al-Assad’s rule, its reversal and then the occupation by fundamentalist forces.
The capture of the capital Damascus by rebel forces after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marks a historic geopolitical change in the region, bringing to a complete end the longest civil war under the influence of jihadist elements. . The rebel forces have ousted not only Assad, but also the tyrannical regime that had been run by a family and a single party since the seventies. Syria is often called the heartbeat of Arabia. Its strategic position is such that it is surrounded by important geopolitical and communal cleavages. This is what separates it from other Arab countries. In 2011, popular uprisings took place in Arab countries under the name Arab Spring, when Ben Ali of Tunisia (1989-2011), Husne Mubarak of Egypt (1981-11), Muammar Gaddafi of Libya (1969-11) and Abdullah Saleh of Yemen (1978- 12) Just as the autocratic leaders had fallen, but the demand for independence arose in Syria Assad alone remained in power in the face of the rebellion. Syria’s opposition was dominated by majority Sunnis, whose condition was weak under Assad’s rule. He was considered an opponent of Assad’s regime, which runs on fear and hatred.
Syrian people celebrating the coup
The history of Syria after independence has been synonymous with the iron rule of the Assad family. Assad is an Alawite Shia, who is also a minority among Shias. Historically, Sunnis and Shias have always been in conflict in Syria. The Alawites are believed to have originated from the mountainous areas of the east in the ninth century. Syria was dominated by Sunnis for centuries. He always hated the Alawites. Alawites have historically been discriminated against because they are considered non-Muslims. Even today many people call them heretics or Nasiriya, due to the fundamental elements of this sect that differentiate it from traditional Islam. Ibn-e-Tamaiya, the fourteenth-century scholar of Damascus, considered the originator of the Salafi sect in Islam, issued a fatwa that “Alawis are more heretics than Jews, Christians and idol-worshipping Indians.” He called for jihad against them. Had done.
Syria was considered the last bastion of secularism before the armed conflict broke out in 2011. Christians, Armenians, Druze and even a handful of Jews lived safely here. The credit for this goes to Assad’s father Hafiz al-Assad, who, after becoming president in 1971, somehow kept the multi-ethnic, multi-religious nation together on the strength of secularism imposed from above.
Minorities in West Asia in general have historically faced atrocities against them and have always been in fear of being killed under the rule of Islam. Hafiz Assad cleverly maintained his power on the basis of a coalition of minorities by showing the fear of capture by the Sunni majority and kept making these constituents realize the need for his power. To win the trust of minorities, he gave them important positions and benefits. This loyalty continued to provide credibility to the secular character of Hafiz Assad’s regime. During the rule of Hafiz Assad, the army, economy and the Baath Party, the flag bearer of Arab socialism, were in control of the Alawites.
The Ba’ath Party was created shortly after Syria’s independence, when it seceded from Egypt under the United Arab Emirates. This party represented pan-Arab sentiment or Arab nationalism. The Ba’ath Party, composed of Christians, Sunnis and Alawites, emerged prominent in post-independence Syria and established military dominance. It captured power in 1963 and got the title of the only recognized political party. In the following years, internal political warfare, military coups, and regional crises destabilized Syria during the Six-Day War. Hafiz Assad, who was the defense minister, seized power in a non-violent coup.
Members of the Assad family and elite Alawites have gained a significant share of the economy through key positions in banking, public sector enterprises, oil, energy and state institutions. Not a single person belonging to the Alawite community or the Ba’ath Party remained out of the government. That is why the people of Syria started seeing the government of the Assad family as the rule of the Alawites. Seeing such rule of the Alawites in Syria, historian Daniel Pipes had said that it was equivalent to “an untouchable becoming king in India or a Jew becoming the tsar in Russia”.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who was overthrown
The political and strategic establishment of this period transformed into a system whose roots were in nepotism and personal benefit rather than in the state. In such a situation, thousands of prisoners, dissidents, journalists, political activists and critics of the government were handed over to secret cells. They were tortured or murdered. Spies, police informers, disappearances and underground prisons had turned Syria into a police state. About 70 percent of the soldiers and 80 percent of the officers in the Syrian army, as well as the elite Republican Guard and the 4th Armored Division, were all Alawite forces led by Assad’s younger son Mahir. Similarly, the intelligence agencies that kept track of anti-government activities and Shabiha militia and the paramilitary forces that carried out extortion, smuggling and other criminal activities also belonged to Alawites.
This Alawite rule was challenged by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, which had started as a secular political party. This was the first Islamic party in Syria. Hafiz Asad immediately banned it. In the seventies and eighties, some Islamic forces challenged Assad’s rule. An armed insurgency was also mounted through an underground network of mosques, educational institutions, health institutions and charitable organizations but was severely suppressed. This resulted in one of the Arab world’s worst massacres.
Assad’s regime violently repressed Sunni forces, rebels and the Brotherhood. Its last chapter was seen in the city of Hama in 1982, where the military forces occupied the city for 27 days, searched and drove out the rebels, during which two-thirds of the city was bombed and twenty to forty thousand civilians were killed. Were killed. To describe this dictatorial action of Hafez Assad, American journalist Thomas Friedman wrote, “Whenever Syria’s Baath regime finds its back against the wall, it resorts to the rule of Hama.” Is. The Syrian army leveled a part of its own city, Hama, in 1982 to crush a rebellion of fundamentalist Sunni Muslims.
In this way Sunni opposition was crushed and political Islam came to an end. Brotherhood members were sentenced to death, and Syrian military forces tracked down religious groups with political leanings and tortured them. Even having a long beard became a bias of suspicion.
People entered Asad’s house
Over time, a new network of Islamic forces emerged and religious extremism started taking place, the command of which was in the hands of Hafiz Assad himself. In fact, Assad tried to show that his government is not against Sunnis, only against fundamentalist elements and terrorists. In this matter, Assad nurtured Sunni Islam with great caution. In this connection, the state itself established institutions of Islamic education. Even an institute like Asad Institute for Memorizing Quran was formed whose branches were opened in most of the cities. This strategy was actually an attempt to weaken political Islam among the youth so that they stay away from jihad.
By the nineties, Hafiz’s health started deteriorating and he died of a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69. He was succeeded by his younger son Bashar, who was an ophthalmologist by profession but who, due to the death of his elder brother and natural heir Basil, had been trained in military service. Bashar’s marriage to Syrian-British banker Asma Akhras five months after becoming president further strengthened his image as a secular and liberal leader because Akhras came from an elite Sunni family of Homs. This marriage was considered a symbol of Sunni-Alawi unity.
Bashar inherited old military and political officers who were loyal to the Ba’ath Party. Yet Bashar promised democratic reforms. He also implemented some economic and political reforms in a controlled manner and released hundreds of political prisoners. Many intellectuals, journalists, academicians and civil society people discussed these reforms and put forward new demands. This new political transition worried the radicals in the government.
Old military generals and senior advisors warned Bashar. From February 2001, the regime took a tough stance towards opponents and rolled back the reforms. In this way, the plant of democratic reforms that had germinated in Damascus was aborted.
(Syrian Revolution: How the Road from Democracy Ended in a Caliphate, excerpted from Manekshaw Papers, Center for Land Warfare Studies)