Place of Birth. Education. Born in Damascus (Syria) in the family of the Commander of the Syrian Air Force and Air Defense Brigadier General Hafez Assad, who in 1970 became the head of state. In 1982, Bashar al-Assad graduated from the Arab-French Lyceum of Hurriya in Damascus, in 1988 – from the Faculty of Medicine of Damascus University with a degree in ophthalmology. After graduation, he specialized as an ophthalmologist at the Tishrin military hospital in Damascus. 1992-1994 continued his education at the Western Eye Hospital ophthalmology center in London.
Bashar al-Assad, in addition to Arabic, also speaks English and French.
Career. In 1994, Bashar al-Assad returned to Syria, where he entered the military academy in Homs and was appointed commander of a tank battalion with the rank of captain. In 1996 he was promoted to major.
In 1997, after graduating with honors from staff courses and conducting military research work, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was appointed commander of the Republican Guard. In 1999, Assad was awarded the next military rank of colonel.
In parallel with the military service, he was an adviser to his father, headed the bureau for the consideration of complaints and appeals of citizens and the campaign against corruption.
In 1999, Bashar al-Assad went on his first diplomatic tour to the Arab countries, then made a trip to France and began to receive foreign delegations instead of his father.
After the death of Hafez Assad’s father on June 11, 2000, Bashar al-Assad was promoted to lieutenant general and took over as the supreme commander of the Syrian army.
On June 20, 2000, at the congress of the ruling Baath party, Bashar al-Assad was elected its general secretary and was nominated as the only presidential candidate, his candidacy was approved by the parliament.
On July 10, 2000, in a referendum on the election of the head of state, Bashar al-Assad won 97.3% of the vote. On July 17, 2000, he took office as president.
In May 2007, Bashar al-Assad became President of Syria for the second time, having won 97.62% of the vote in the last national referendum.
On July 17, 2007, Assad officially took office as president for a second seven-year term.
Since March 2011, an armed conflict has continued in Syria, which, according to the UN, claimed the lives of over 150 thousand people. The government forces are opposed by militant detachments belonging to various armed formations, in which, among other things, foreign mercenaries operate.
In the June 3, 2014 presidential elections in Syria, in which several candidates ran for the first time, Bashar al-Assad won with 88.7% of the vote.
In March 2014, during the beginning of the Russian occupation of Crimea supported Vladimir’s actions Putin… V To the UN General Assembly Syria voted to recognize the so-called “Crimean referendum”, becoming one of the countries that supported Russia.
May 26, 2024 Bashar al-Assad re-elected for a fourth seven-year term in the country’s presidential elections, which are not recognizedet democratic world.
Regalia. Marshal Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st degree (2002, Ukraine). Order of St. Gregory the Illuminator (2009, Armenia). Order of the Liberator, 1st class with a replica of Bolivar’s sword (2010, Venezuela). Grand National Order of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2010).
Bashar al-Assad was elected a full member of the Peter’s Academy of Sciences and Arts (PANI) and awarded a commemorative medal of the PANI named after Peter the Great.
Family. Father Hafez Assad is a former president of Syria. Bashar al-Assad was the third child in the family. In addition to him, there were four other boys in the family: the elder brother Basil, the younger ones Maher, Majid and Jamil, as well as the older sister Bushra. The husband of his sister, Major General Asef Shaukat, during the reign of Bashar al-Assad, was the head of military intelligence, chief of staff of the army and deputy minister of defense. He died in 2012 as a result of a terrorist attack during the civil war in Syria. Maternal cousin Hafiz Makhlouf served as head of the investigative office of the General Intelligence Service of Syria and was also killed in that attack.
Bashar al-Assad is married to Asma al-Ahras. His wife is an expert in computer technology. Bashar Assad and Asma have two sons Hafez (born 2001) and Karim (born 2004), and a daughter Zeyni (born 2003).