Syria

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Country in western Asia, on the Mediterranean Sea, bounded to the north by Turkey, east by Iraq, south by Jordan, and southwest by Israel and Lebanon.

Government
The 1973 constitution provides for a president, elected by universal adult suffrage for a seven-year term, who appoints and governs with the help of a prime minister and a council of ministers. There is a single-chamber, 250-member legislature, the Majlis al-Sha'ab, also elected by universal adult suffrage. It serves a four-year term.

History
Since the earliest times Syria's strategic geographical position – controlling the trade routes from the Mediterranean to the interior – has made it the gathering point for successive waves of immigrants. Prosperous city-states emerged in the 3rd millennium BC, especially on the coast. Damascus claims to be the world's oldest continuously inhabited city (over 4,000 years) and Aleppo claims to be even older. It was in Syria that some of the earliest forms of writing evolved. Ugaritic, one of the earliest known alphabets, dating from the 2nd millennium BC, was discovered at Ugarit near the port of Latakia. Around 2000 BC the nomadic Amorites from the Syrian desert swept west, establishing several kingdoms. The Amorites were followed by the Hurrians from the northeast, who established the extensive kingdom of Mitanni, itself defeated by the Hittites in around 1350 BC and incorporated into their empire.

From around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC the Egyptians attempted to control the area, coming into conflict with both Mitanni and the Hittites. Major disruptions occurred around 1200 BC with the invasions of the mysterious Sea Peoples, who appear to have brought about the sudden demise of the Hittite Empire. Subsequently the Arameans, another nomadic people (see Aramaic language), established kingdoms in the area, while several ‘Neo-Hittite’ states survived in the north.

A succession of empires
Both the Aramean and Neo-Hittite states were conquered by the Assyrians in the 9th and 8th centuries BC. The Assyrian Empire was itself defeated by the Babylonians towards the end of the 7th century BC, who in turn fell to the Persians in the late 6th century BC. The Macedonian Greeks under Alexander the Great had subdued the Persian Empire by the time of Alexander's death in 323 BC, when his conquests were divided among his generals. Syria became part of the Seleucid Empire founded by Seleucus I, Nicator, and came to prominence under Antiochus the Great. During the reign of the last Seleucid king, Antiochus XIII (69–65 BC), Syria became a Roman province (64 BC), and subsequently part of the Byzantine Empire.

Syria fell in AD 636 to the Muslim Arabs as they expanded out of Arabia. The Umayyad dynasty ruled its vast empire between 661 and 750 from Damascus, and thereafter local and externally supported dynasties disputed control. In the 11th to 13th centuries Syria was the scene of many battles between Muslims and European Crusaders. With the fall of Acre in 1291 the last Crusader foothold was removed by the Mamelukes, who ruled until defeated by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. The period spent within the Ottoman Empire (1517–1918) was one of slow decay. Egypt (at this time only notionally part of the Ottoman Empire) conquered Syria between 1831 and 1840. Nevertheless Syria became a centre for the revival of Arab culture and of the drive for Arab self-determination.

The French mandate
Arab nationalists were disappointed following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) at the end of World War I. Instead of obtaining independence, they were used as pawns of Allied diplomatic bargaining. Under the terms of the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 – by which the Allies secretly decided on how to partition the Ottoman Empire – Syria and Lebanon were assigned to the French area of influence, and at the San Remo Conference of April 1920 France was granted a League of Nations mandate to govern these two territories.

The French carried out considerable modernization in the main population centres, but nationalist-inspired uprisings made clear the Syrians' feeling of betrayal. Some progress was made towards self-government, but attempts by France to reorganize Syria politically by according special administrative status to the various sections of the population met with hostility, and there was a major national rising against French rule in 1925–27.

Towards independence
In September 1936 the principle of Syrian independence was acknowledged in a treaty that was never ratified, and real moves towards independence were disrupted by World War II. French and British troops invaded Syria in order to drive out a commander loyal to the pro-German Vichy government. Independence was granted in theory in September 1941, but it was not until elections had been held in August 1943 (as a result of which Shukri Kuwatli became president) that it arrived in fact in April 1946.

Syria since independence
The first two decades following independence were marked by political instability, and frequent interventions by the military. This instability ended with the coming to power of Lt-Gen Assad in 1970, since when the country's internal divisions along tribal, ethnic, and religious lines have largely been suppressed. In foreign affairs Syria took a militant attitude towards the Arab–Israeli conflict (see Arab–Israeli Wars), although this has gradually moderated. Syria has also varied in its attitude towards pan-Arabism, with periods of stressful relations with its Arab neighbours alternating with attempts at union with them.

The decades of upheaval, 1946–70
Syrian forces took part in the 1948–49 war with Israel, and the country shared the sense of Arab disillusionment at the outcome. Col Husni Zaim seized power briefly in March 1949, but internal and external pressure led to his overthrow and Col Adib Shishakli took over in December and remained until 1954. Several economic projects were initiated in the comparative political tranquillity. Kuwatli was returned after an army insurrection, and the Soviet Union increased its influence.

At the same time there was growing pressure for union with Egypt, many Syrians being inspired by the militant Arab nationalism of its president Gamal Abdel Nasser – especially following his stand in the Suez Crisis of 1956. The union came into being under the name of the United Arab Republic in February 1958, but growing discontent with Egyptian domination led to a military coup in September 1961, followed by the break-up of the union and the formation of the independent Syrian Arab Republic.

The secessionists were in turn ousted in March 1963 by officers belonging to the Ba'ath Party, led by Gen Amin Hafez, who became president. The new regime instituted socialist policies such as nationalization, and adopted a foreign policy orientated towards the communist countries. But the Ba'athists themselves were divided and the sequence of coup and counter-coup continued, with the radical wing staging a military coup in February 1966.

This new government survived a disastrous involvement in the 1967 war with Israel. The war followed a long history of border incidents and resulted in the loss of territory on the Golan Heights, the strategically important plateau overlooking northern Israel. After the war Syria remained among the militants in the Arab world, refusing negotiations, and backing the claims of the Palestinians.

Assad comes to power
Involvement in the 1970 war in Jordan exacerbated divisions in the Ba'ath party, and the moderate wing, led by Lt-Gen Hafez al-Assad, secured power in a bloodless coup in November 1970. In the following year Assad was elected president, and introduced the longest period of stable government in Syria since independence, although marred by his suppression of an Islamic extremist uprising in Hama in 1982 with the loss of 5,000–10,000 lives. He also became head of government, secretary general of the Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party, and president of the National Progressive Front, an umbrella organization for the five main socialist parties. Syria is therefore in reality, if not in a strictly legal sense, a one-party state, underpinned by the military.

Middle East affairs, 1970–80
In September 1971 an agreement was signed to form, with Egypt and Libya, a ‘Confederation of Arab Republics’, but this broke up in 1979.

Syria's military performance was improved in the 1973 war with Israel, even though more land was lost. Syria did not abandon its hard line on the Palestinians' claims and on a total Israeli withdrawal. Relations between Syria and Egypt cooled after President Sadat's Israel peace initiative in 1977 and the subsequent Camp David Agreements (1978 and 1979). Distinct strains also emerged in Syria's relations with Iraq because of a dispute over the headwaters of the River Euphrates. In 1981 Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights.

Involvement in Lebanon
Syria became deeply involved in 1975–76 in Lebanon's civil war, at first as a mediating influence and then on the side of the right-wing Christians against the Muslims and Palestinians. Syria eventually committed 50,000 troops to the operations. Its aim was to create an area of influence consisting of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan (with which close relations were established) approximating to the idea of a ‘Greater Syria’. Assad opposed US-sponsored peace moves in Lebanon, arguing that they infringed upon Lebanese sovereignty. He also questioned Yassir Arafat's leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization and supported opposition to him.

In 1984 President Assad and the Lebanese president Amin Gemayel approved plans for a government of national unity in Lebanon, which would give equal representation to Muslims and Christians, and secured the reluctant agreement of Nabih Berri of the Shiite Amal Militia and Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Druze. Fighting still continued, and Assad's credibility suffered, but in 1985 his authority proved sufficient to secure the release of 39 US hostages from an aircraft hijacked by the extremist Shiite group Hezbollah.

In November 1986 Britain broke off diplomatic relations after claiming to have proof of Syrian involvement in international terrorism, when a Syrian citizen attempted to blow up an Israeli plane at Heathrow airport, London. In July 1987 Syria instigated a crackdown on the pro-Iranian Hezbollah party.

Leaning towards the West
Syria leant increasingly towards the West, its policies in Lebanon in direct conflict with Iran's dream of an Islamic republic, and its crumbling economy was promised Arab aid if Damascus switched allegiance. In June 1987, following a private visit by the former US president Jimmy Carter, Syria's relations with the USA began to improve, and efforts were made to arrange the release of Western hostages in Lebanon, a process that continued through 1991. In 1990 Syrian troops defeated the forces of the Maronite Christian leader Michel Aoun, helping to bring to an end the civil war in Lebanon. After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, Syria sided with other Arab states and the United Nations (UN) coalition against Iraq, contributing troops for the Gulf War. In November 1990 full diplomatic relations with Britain were resumed, and in 1991 President Assad agreed to a US Middle East peace plan.

In December 1991, Assad was re-elected, unopposed, for a fourth term. In the August 1994 assembly elections the Ba'ath Party was returned to its dominant position.

In 1993 Syria joined other Arab countries, including Iraq, in boycotting a UN treaty banning production and use of chemical weapons. In 1997, three border points with Iraq, closed since 1980, were re-opened.

Discussions with Israel 1994–2000
In 1994 Israel offered partial withdrawal from the Golan Heights area, as part of a wider-ranging peace treaty between the two countries, and in 1995 a security framework agreement was reached. However, peace talks did not progress further. One issue of contention was the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon in 1996. Together with the USA, Syria tried to agree a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but violence continued. In January 1998, relations with Israel deteriorated after Israeli forces in the Golan Heights seized land cultivated by Arab farmers, which led to violence. In November, the Syrian-backed Islamic Jihad movement claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Jerusalem.

In 1999 peace talks between Israel and Syria were resumed after a break of more than three years. Issues of the Golan Heights, as well as of Syria's role in Lebanon, where it still had 30,000 troops, and the Middle East, were discussed, and a date for more peace talks set for early 2000. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa returned to the USA, but concluded their talks with only the outline of an agreement. While in talks, Syria accused Israel of a lack of good faith after Israel negotiated for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Islamic militia in Lebanon, and Syria distanced itself from Iran, to form part of the security arrangements. When Barak arrived back in Israel, he was met with strong opposition to a withdrawal from the Golan Heights from Israeli politicians and civilians.

Peace talks over the Golan Heights were postponed indefinitely by Israel in January 2000. No reason was given, although Israel rejected a demand from Syria to commit to a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, saying that negotiations would not be resumed until Syria was seen to control Hezbollah guerrillas operating in southern Lebanon. This preceded renewed fighting between Israel and Lebanon after Israel withdrew from the 1996 ceasefire agreement, bombing three power transformers providing power to Lebanese cities in retaliation for the recent killings of six Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. Following the fighting, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak defeated a motion of no confidence and insisted that, before Israel pulled out from Lebanon, he would exhaust all chances of a deal with Syria and Lebanon.

After Arab-Israeli peace talks were reopened in March 2000, Israel's cabinet confirmed Prime Minister Barak's commitment to withdraw Israeli troops from south Lebanon by July 2000. However, the bombing campaign which had gained strength since Israel bombed three Lebanese power stations in February continued despite, and perhaps as a result of, unanimous condemnation of Israel's actions at a recent meeting of the 22-nation Arab League. In an attempt to prevent Israel's withdrawal from the Golan Heights being under fire, US president Clinton and Syrian president Assad attempted to frame a deal which would lead to a peaceful withdrawal, and would include the UN Security Council. However, Israel remained determined to withdraw, despite Syrian warnings that a unilateral move could provoke an escalation of violence in the region.

Political prisoners
In November 1995, 1,200 political prisoners, including members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, were released as part of an amnesty to commemorate President Assad's seizure of power 25 years previously. In January 1999, Amnesty International called for the further release of 300 political prisoners, condemning Syria's human rights record. In July 2000, there were further releases, coinciding with Bashar al-Assad becoming president.

Changes in government
Having been re-elected in 1999, in March 2000, President Assad carried out his first major cabinet shuffle since 1992, appointing Muhammad Mustafa Miro to the position of prime minister.

President Assad died in June 2000. His son Bashar was named commander-in-chief of the army and was nominated to succeed as president. His presidency was confirmed in a referendum held on 10 July 2000 which afforded him 97% of the popular vote.

Economic changes
In November the Iraq–Syria border was re-opened and Iraq began pumping oil to Syria through a pipeline that had been closed for a decade. In early December, President Bashar Assad approved the establishment of private banks and took preliminary measures to establish a stock market and float the Syrian pound. The measures reversed the nationalization of banks that had occurred in the early 1960s. In January 2001, Syria signed a free-trade accord with Iraq.

In March 2001, Assad renewed relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization, after ten years.

A vote by the UN General Assembly in October 2001 gave Syria a two-year seat on the Security Council. Despite appeals from the US Congress – Syria was on the US State Department terror list for funding militant Islamic groups – the Bush administration did not publicly oppose the result, because as one of ten non-permanent members, Syria would not hold any veto power in the council.

Yellow stands for grain and freedom from need. Green symbolizes the forests and hope. Red represents bloodshed and courage. Effective date: 20 March 1989. >>