| |
| 1980, March |
| |
| Strikes and demonstrations paralyzed Aleppo, and many dissidents openly called for an end to Assad's regime. The government sent in the army, which surrounded the city. The Aleppines resisted, and hundreds died in the fighting. A wave of arrests followed, and the government executed a large number of dissidents. | 1 |
| |
| 1982, Feb |
| |
| Brutal suppression of a REVOLT IN HAMA, which was organized by the Muslim Brotherhood. The uprising was by far the most serious challenge that Assad's regime had ever faced. Rebels held out for three weeks until the armed forces overran the city, killing some 20,000 people. | 2 |
| |
| 1983, Nov |
| |
| As Pres. Assad lay gravely ill, rival Alawi factions began maneuvering to contest the succession. The most prominent claimant was Assad's brother, Rif‘at. After Assad's recovery, there was a silent confrontation in the streets of Damascus between Rif‘at's troops and those loyal to the president. A compromise was reached, but the public quarreling deeply embarrassed the regime. | 3 |
| |
| 1986 |
| |
| Syria officially became the largest purchaser of Soviet arms in the Third World. | 4 |
| |
| 1987, June 4 |
| |
| Syria closed the Damascus offices of the Abu Nidal group, its erstwhile ally within the PLO. | 5 |
| |
| 1989, June 23 |
| |
| Death of MICHEL AFLAQ (b. 1910), a Syrian Christian writer and political activist. Aflaq argued that the Arabs, regardless of religion and local affiliations, were an indivisible nation kept apart only by imperialist forces. During the 1940s he helped to organize the Ba‘th Party, which attracted a substantial number of adherents in Syria and founded a branch in Iraq. The party espoused socialist policies and played a leading role in forging the brief political union between Egypt and Syria (1958–61). Aflaq was ousted from the Syrian Ba‘th after an internal dispute (1966) and spent most of his remaining years in Baghdad as a guest of the other Ba‘thist regime. | 6 |
| |
| 1991, June |
| |
| Enactment of “Law 10,” a package of tax exemptions offered to a wide spectrum of private companies, by which the government hoped to stimulate the faltering national economy. | 7 |
| |
| 1993, Dec |
| |
| Syria's 850 Jews were permitted to apply for emigration papers in response to an American request. Similar permission had been given in April 1992, allowing some Jews to leave. | 8 |
| |
| 1994, Jan |
| |
| After meeting with U.S. president Clinton, Pres. Assad signaled his readiness to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel after the return of the Golan Heights to Syria. Israel said it would take the return of the Golan to a national referendum. | 9 |
| |
| 1998, Oct. 21 |
| |
| With 10,000 Turkish troops assembled at its border, Syria signed an agreement with Turkey to halt its aid to Kurdish rebels. | 10 |
| |
| Dec. 4 |
| |
| Pres. Assad's National Progressive Front won all 167 seats in the Syrian legislative elections. | 11 |
| |
| |
