Syria and Syrian News

  
Country Profile
Syria officially the Syrian Arab Republic is a country in Western Asia.
Syria is divided into 14 Governorates which are further divided into a total of 61 Districts.
Capital                            Damascus
Currency                         Syrian Pound
Official Language             Arabic
Population                       23 Million(2011 Estimate)
Religion                           74% Sunni Muslims;12% Shia Muslims;10%Christians and 4% Others

History
Syria and France negotiated a Treaty of Independence in September 1936, and Hashim al-Atassi,who was Prime Minister under King Faisal's brief reign, was the first president to be elected under a new constitution, effectively the first incarnation of the modern republic of Syria. However, the treaty never came into force because the French Legislature refused to ratify it.

With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II,Syria proclaimed its independence again in 1941, but it was not until 1 January 1944 that it was recognised as an independent republic. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and British pressure forced the French to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.

Between 1946 and 1956, Syria had 20 different cabinets and drafted four separate constitutions.

On Feb 01, 1958, Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli and Egyptian President Gamal Abdal Nasser announced the merging of the two states, creating theUnited Arab Republic.The union was not a success, however.Following a military overthrow led by Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi on Sep 28,1961, Syria seceded, re-establishing itself as the Syrian Arab Republic.

Politics and Government
Syria is officially a Parliamentary Republic but the power vests in the hands of President of Syria and his family,all members of the ruling Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.
The 2 Presidents who have been in power since 1970 —

Hafiz al - Azad(Oct 6,1930-June 10,2000)was the President of Syria during Feb 1971 - June 2000  followed by his son

Bashar al-Asad(DOB Sep 11,1965)is the Current President of Syria who was elected in 2000 and 2007, unopposed each time.
were approved in Plebiscites where there were no other candidates 
According to the 2012 constitution, the President is elected by Syrian citizens in a direct election.

  
Syrian Parliament

 

Syria's Legislative branch is the Unicameral  People's Council which has 250 members elected for a four year term.



2011 Syrian Uprising‎

Protests in Syria started in January 2011 as protestors calling for -
political reforms and the reinstatement of civil rights and
an end to the state of emergency which has been in place since 1963

Demonstrations took place in many cities across Syria. Syrian authorities forcibly dispersed demonstration and security forces arrested a number of protestors.As a result of the violent crack down and the forced detainment of thousands of protesters, an increasing number of refugees  are trying to escape to Turkey. About 7,600 refugees live in Turkish government-sponsored camps near the border.

 

 

Thousands of protesters in several Syrian cities took to the streets after the Friday prayers and chanted "God, Syria, Freedom, that is enough", challenging the classical pro-regime slogan "God, Syria, Bashar, that is enough".

Thousands of protestors gathered in al-Hasakah,Aleppo,Damascus,Daraa,Deir ez-Zor and Hama

 

 Recently released politician Suhair Atassi became an unofficial spokesperson for the "Syrian revolution"

 

On 29 March, the entire Syrian cabinet was asked to resign by the president.
Adel Safar was named the new prime minister and his new cabinet was sworn intooffice on April 14,2011

The Emergency Law was rescinded on April 21,2011

Bashar al-Assad who inherited Syria’s harsh dictatorship from his father, Hafez al-Assad, at first wavered between force and hints of reform. But in April, just days after lifting the country’s decades-old state of emergency, he launched the first of what became a series of withering crackdowns, sending tanks into restive cities as security forces opened fire on demonstrators

The crackdown has been condemned internationally and also from unlikely quarters, such as Syria’s close neighbors, Jordan and Turkey, and from Russia, which had been one of Bashar al-Assad 's steadiest remaining allies.
The Syrian government announced on Nov 2,2011  that it had agreed to an Arab League-sponsored peace deal to end the political violence that has rocked the country

In May 2011 US President Barack Obama  imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad  and six other senior Syrian officials as a response to Syria's bloody crackdown on political protests.

In September 2011 the attorney general of Hama resigned citing the brutality of the President Bashar al-Assad  Regime as his reason, particularly the alleged execution of 72 political prisoners in Hama Central Prison in July 2011 
Citing "circumstances beyond our control", the Syrian government abruptly canceled Arab League  Secretary-General Naril Elaraby's scheduled visit to Damascus
Syrian opposition members called on President Bashar Assad Sunday to end his deadly six-month crackdown or face an escalation in peaceful protests.



Arab League Suspends Syria's Membership wef Nov 16,2011

Arab league's decision at the support of 18 of its 22 members for robust action against Syria. Opposition came only from Syria itself, Lebanon and Yemen; Iraq abstained.Arab league's decision to suspend Syria's membership also includes the threat of economic sanctions. The resolution did not specify what those punishments might be, and it will probably be left to each Arab state to decide individuallyThe move is largely symbolic. It is not clear what sanctions Arab League members could impose.Syria was not just one of a 22-member group, but a founding member and central player. Suspension is a blow to Syria's claim to be the beating heart of pan-Arabism. And isolation could be a precursor to recognising the Syrian National Council, the umbrella group of the opposition.
Arab League secretary-general Nabil Alarabi suspend Syria's membership

Syrians living in Jordan shout slogans against President Bashar Al-Assad at a demonstration in front of the Syrian embassy in Amman 

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay  on Monday Dec 12,2011 said that more than 5,000 people have died in the nine-month-long Syrian uprising.

Shops shut by Strike in Syria - Dec12,2011
A protest strike shut businesses in a new gesture of civil disobedience.
"For the first time we have seen business close in multiple districts in Damascus and spread to most of the suburbs and provinces. The aim is to reach civil disobedience that encompasses all sectors and forces the regime down," said Rima Fleihan, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council.
Syrians closed their businesses and kept children home from school in several parts of the country Monday in a show of civil disobedience against the regime.Only bakeries, pharmacies and some vegetable shops are open.
The opposition wants the strike to remain in force until the regime pulls the army out of cities and releases thousands of detainees.
Since the uprising began, President Bashar Assad has made several gestures of reform. But after nine months, the opposition is demanding nothing less than the downfall of the President Bashar Assad regime.

UN General Assembly Backs Call For President Assad to Quit

The UN general assembly has approved a resolution on Thursday Feb 16,2012 backing an Arab League plan that calls on the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down and strongly condemns human rights violations in Syriaby his regime.

The vote in the 193-member body was 137-12 with 17 abstentions.

Russia and China, who vetoed a similar resolution in the security council, voted against the resolution.

Syria Votes for a New Constitution

Syrians have taken part in a referendum to clear the way for multi-party elections that could see President Bashar al Assad entrenched as president until 2028, in a vote widely dismissed by the opposition as a figleaf for reform.
The referendum is held up as a centrepiece of Assad's reforms, which were drafted as a response to what has been a sustained challenge to the totalitarian state that he and his father before him have ruled for more than 40 years.
It would mean the Ba'ath party would no longer have a monopoly on political and social life in Syria. Opposition groups would, in law at least, be free to stand independently in future elections

 President Bashar al- Assad Calls Parliamentary Polls in May 2012
The May 7,2012 elections were announced under a new constittion passed last month.

2012 Syrian Parliamentary Election - Monday May 07,2012

Parliamentary elections to the Syrian People's Council  held in Syria on May 07, 2012, following the approval of a New Constitution of Syria in a Referendum on Feb 26,2012.For the first time the charter allows political parties to compete with Assad's ruling Ba'ath party and limits the president to two seven-year terms.
The 250-seat parliament's term expired last March but it has been extended in accordance with the country's new constitution.The elections were postponed from May 2011 to February 2012 and then again, due to the Uprising in Syria.
Election officials say more than 7,000 candidates are competing for seats in the legislature in a country of almost 15 million eligible voters out of a population of 24 million.Polls opened at 7am and Syrian state TV showed voters lining up and dropping white ballots in large, plastic boxes.

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region

 a ba'athist regional organisation founded on 7 April 1947 by Michel Aflaq,Salah al-Din al-Bitar and followers of Zaki al-Arsuzi and the party's current leader is Bashar al-Assad

National Progressive Front(NPF) established in 1972, is a coalition of political parties in Syria established by Hafiz al-Azad(President of Syria from Feb 1971 to June 2000)The NPF is composed of 11 political parties including the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.

Election Results
The National Unity List, which is dominated by the Syrian Baath Party, won more than 150 seats in the 250 member parliament. Independent individuals won more than 90 seats.
Among the newly established opposition parties (established since August 2011), only one single seat was won, namely a seat in Aleppo won by the Syrian Democratic Party, Ahmad Koussa.
 In addition 3 representatives of longstanding opposition parties have been elected to Parliament: Qadri Jamil and Ali Haydar from the Front for Change and Liberation, and Amro Osi from the Initiative of Syrian Kurds.

Syria's New Prime Minister - Wednesday June 06,2012
President Bashar al -Assad reorganized his government appointing the Agriculture Minister, Riyad Farid Hijab, as Prime Minister and ordering him to form a new administration.

Syrian National Council picks New President

The Syrian National Council, a prominent opposition group, elected its spokesman, George Sabra, as president at a meeting on Nov 9,2012 Friday in Doha, Qatar.

A foreign policy spokesman for the group, Radwan Ziadeh, said Sabra -- the group's third president -- replaces Abdulbaset Sieda, who is now a member of the executive office.

In all, 11 members -- men of various religious and ethnic backgrounds -- were elected to the executive office. "We hope the refreshment in leadership will reflect on the work of the SNC in the future," Ziadeh said. 

"No women were elected to the executive council but there is a seat for a woman that remains empty," he said, adding that no woman had run for the position.

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War

The problem began in April 2011, when the Syrian government used lethal force to crackdown on anti-government protests.

The flow of refugees intensified with the military siege of Talkalakh in May  2011and the militarysiege of Jisr al-Shyghour in Idlib Province in June 2011.As a result of these military actions, thousands of Syrian citizens fled across the border to Lebanon and Turkey.

In early 2012, the number of Syrian refugees swelled to some 20,000 UNHCR registered refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan

Jordan has agreed to create camps to house the swelling numbers of refugees and began construction of a 30,000 square meter refugee camp in March 2012.

Turkey has accommodated most of its Syrian refugees in tent cities in Hatay province, which have been constructed since summer 2011

In August 2012, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the number of registered Syrian refugees had reached over 200,000, exceeding the UNHCR estimate of 185,000 for the entire year.

Also according to the United Nations, 6 million people inside Syria needed help and about 4 million Syrians were internally displaced  because of the Syrian civil war


According to UNHCR data, the total number of Syrian refugees reached more than 408,000 registered in December 2012, mostly residing in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq (including Iraqi Kurdistan)

As of 13 February 2013, more than 182,938 Syrian refugees are in Lebanon.As the number of Syrian refugees increases,many fear the country’s sectarian based political system is being undermined

 

 Thousands Flee Syria in 1 day

The battles between Syrian government forces and rebels raged in Ras Al Ain, across the border from Turkey.

The fighting has pushed thousands more refugees out of Syria. By Friday, more than 11,000 Syrians had escaped into Jordan and Turkey and more than 400,000 had been registered or were awaiting registration as refugees, said U.N. Human Rights Council spokesman Ron Redmond.

Syrian PM Wael al-Halqi Survived Car Bomb Attack - Monday April 29,2013

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi has survived a car bomb attack in the capital, Damascus and the blast in western Mazzeh district targeted Mr Halqi's convoy, State TV said

It is unclear whether the blast was a suicide bombing or a planted device

Major bombings in Damascus,Syria

• 8 April 2013: Car bomb in Damascus kills at least 15 people and wounds 53
• 21 March: Sheikh Mohammed al-Bouti, leading cleric and supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, killed in blast in Damascus along with 41 others
• 12 December 2012: Car bombing hits interior ministry in Damascus, killing several people and wounding more than 20, including Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar
• 18 July: Syrian national security building in Damascus bombed, killing defence minister and deputy, and wounding interior minister

 UN Says Syrian Refugees Number One Million

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said -

• Half of the refugees were children, most under the age of 11

• largest numbers of refugees were seeking shelter in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

• those who have fled conflict now live in difficult conditions, with poor sanitation and insufficient resources to cope with

• more than 400,000 have became refugees since 1 January 2013

• Turkey, providing a temporary home for some 184,000 refugees, has spent more than $600m (459m euros; £396m) setting up 17 refugee camps, and was building new ones to meet the increasing need

• Some 110,000 of those who have sought shelter in Jordan are living in the desert camp of Zaatari, near its northern border with Syria

 

Refugee Numbers

 

• Jordan - 324,543
• Lebanon - 329,823
• Turkey - 185,205
• Iraq - 105,326
• Egypt - 43,665
• North Africa - 8,262