Atlas Syria |
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Country
(long form) History Syria prospered under Ottoman rule except for a brief period in the 19th century when the Egyptians came a-conquerin'. They were soon sent a-packin' and the Ottoman Turks dished it, along with Lebanon, out to France when the Turkish Empire broke up after WWI. The Syrians weren't too pleased with this arrangement (they had been an independent nation from 1918-20) and staged an insurrection in 1925-26, which resulted in the French bombing Damascus. In 1932, Syria had its first parliamentary elections, and although the candidates had been picked by the French, they refused to accept France's proposed constitution for the country. In 1939 France granted Turkey the Syrian province of Alexandretta, further sharpening feeling against the imperial overlords. France promised independence in 1941 but didn't come through with it until 1946. Civilian rule didn't last long in Syria: in 1954, after several military coups, the Ba'athist section of the army took over the country. The Ba'ath Party was founded in 1940 by a Christian teacher and was committed to a form of pan-Arabism under which Syria would forfeit its sovereignty. This led to the formation of a United Arab Republic with Egypt in 1958, but several people thought this wasn't such a hot idea, and another series of military coups trundled across the country. By 1966 the Ba'ath were back in power, but the celebrations were curtailed by the 1967 Six Day War with Israel and the 1970 Black September hostilities with Jordan. While everyone was otherwise occupied, Defence Minister Hafez al-Assad seized power. Since 1971 Assad has held onto the presidency with a mixture of ruthless suppression and guile, and used his position to manoeuvre Syria into a position of power negotiating the terms of peace in the Middle East. In 1999, he was elected to a fifth seven-year term with a predictable 99.9% of the vote. Although falling oil prices instigated much hand-wringing throughout the Middle East, Assad's astute exploitation of the Gulf War in the early 1990s brought improvements in the Syrian economy. During the war, Syria joined the anti-Iraq coalition, getting into the USA's good books in an effort to get off Washington's list of states supporting international terrorism. In 1997, Syria was removed from the US list of drug-trafficking states, while Assad moved to strengthen ties with the fledgling EU, Turkey and the USA. Attempts to diversify the oil-reliant economy, primarily with investment in agricultural products, have had mixed success. In early 2000, US State Department officials discussed removing Syria from the terrorism list, admitting that even according to US intelligence, the country hadn't sponsored any terrorist activity since 1986. The chaotic withdrawal of Israeli troops from South Lebanon in May 2000, occuring under fire from the alledgedly Syrian-sponsored Hezbollah, would have probably delayed further talks under the best of circumstances. President Assad died 10 June 2000 and his son Bashir was sworn in for a seven-year term in July 2000. Internationally,
Syria's hardline stance vis-á-vis Israel over the return of the
Golan Heights and alleged support for extremist organisations, such
as Hezbollah, continues to stand in the way of improved relations with
the West. As recently as 2002 US president George W Bush was tarring
Syria with the accusation of being an associate of a perceived 'axis
of evil'. European leaders though are taking a less hysterical approach
and the UK's Tony Blair has been one of a number of key Western statesmen
to visit Damascus in recent times. |
