Bashar al-Assad

Damascus, Syria, February 2020 – al-Assad in meeting, shganti777/Bigstock.com

Place of Birth: Damascus, Syria

Date of Birth: 11 September, 1965

Ethnicity: Syrian Alawite

Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician, medical doctor, and despot. He has been President of Syria, since 17 July, 2000. He hereditarily succeeded his father in the role. He has also been General Secretary of the Central Command of the Syrian Regional Branch, since 24 June, 2000, General Secretary of the National Council of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, since 18 May, 2007, and commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces. Syria, generally described as a totalitarian police state, is controlled by al-Assad loyalists from the Alwaite elite, including the armed forces and secret service. Bashar has overseen the 1998-2005 Syrian occupation of Lebanon; purges of his father’s old guard, and alienation of once-traditional strongholds of his family’s Ba’ath party; human rights violations, executions, surveillance, and repression; and the Syrian Civil War of the 2010s, which has killed around 580,000 people, predominantly non-combatants, created the largest refugee crisis in the world, and featured the likely use of chemical weapons by his regime.

Bashar is the son of Anisa Makhlouf and Hafez al-Assad, a politician, military officer, and revolutionary. His father was an officer of the Syrian Arab Air Force, who became Minister of Defense, from 23 February, 1966 to 22 March, 1972; Prime Minister of Syria, from 21 November, 1970 to 3 April, 1971; and President of Syria, from 12 March, 1971 to 10 June, 2000, his death. His father participated in the 1963 Syrian coup d’état, eventually consolidating power through several subsequent coups to become the country’s sole leader. The al-Assad family, of the Kalbiyya tribe, are from Qardaha, an Alawite town in the mountainous Latakia Sanjak, originally part of the Ottoman Empire. Bashar’s father was born in Qardaha, Alawite State, then Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. Bashar’s mother was born in Latakia Governorate, to the influential Makhlouf family. His parents were said to have been related, possibly as close as first cousins.

He is the brother of Bushra al-Assad; engineer, colonel, equestrian, and politician Bassel al-Assad, nicknamed “The Golden Knight;” Majd al-Assad; and general Maher al-Assad, nicknamed “The Chief,” who is commander of the Syrian Army’s elite 4th Armoured Division. Bushra was married to military officer Assef Shawkat, until his death. His maternal cousin is billionare businessperson Rami Makhlouf, usually considered the wealthiest man in Syria.

Bashar’s older brother Bassel was expected to succeed their father as president; however, Bassel died in a car accident in Damascus in 1994. Bashar had initially worked as a doctor.

Bashar is married to Asma al-Assad (born Asma Fawaz Akhras), with whom he has three children, including presumptive successor Hafez Bashar al-Assad. Asma was born in London, England, to Sunni Muslim parents, from Syria. Her father, Fawaz Akhras, was a cardiologist. Her mother, Sahar Akhras, was a diplomat, who was First Secretary at the Syrian Embassy in London.

Bashar’s paternal grandfather was named Ali al-Assad (born Ali ibn Suleyman/Sulayman al-Wahsh, the son of Sulayman ibn Ahmed ibn Ibrahim ibn Sulayman al-Wahsh/al-Wahhish). Bashar’s grandfather Ali was born in Qardaha, Latakia Sanjak, Ottoman Empire, now Syria, and was a farmer and tribal leader. The nickname “al-Wahhish” translates to “wild beast.”

Bashar’s paternal grandmother was named Na’sa/Naissa Shalish/Salish.

Bashar’s maternal grandfather was named Ahmed Makhlouf.

Bashar’s maternal grandmother was named Saada Sulayman al-Assad.

Source: Genealogy of Bashar al-Assad (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com