Assad regime in Syria has ended: Who is Assad, who ruled his country for 24 years? What did he do in Syria?

Bashar al-Assad took the presidential seat in 2000 following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.

There were hopes that he would implement democratic reforms and ensure economic development. It was thought that he would make a fresh start in governance. But that did not happen. He followed in his father's footsteps and opted for an authoritarian rule.

Bashar al-Assad was the second of three children. Born in Damascus on September 11, 1965, Assad attended the Arab-French school. He learned both French and English.

He then studied medicine at Damascus University. He became an ophthalmologist. He began working at a military hospital in Damascus. In 1992, he went to London to continue his medical training.

In 1994, his older brother Basil lost his life in a traffic accident.

Basil was being trained to take power after his father.

His sudden death disrupted father Hafez al-Assad's plans. Father Assad had to choose Bashar al-Assad as his new successor.

Bashar al-Assad was called from London to Damascus to be prepared for leadership. However, he had very little military and political experience.

He was quickly prepared for power. He received training at the military academy to increase his standing within military and intelligence institutions.

He was given the rank of colonel in the elite Republican Guard. Steps were also taken to increase his popularity among the public.

He was put in charge of an anti-corruption campaign. To highlight his modern side, he was appointed head of the Syrian Computer Society.

Father Hafez al-Assad died on June 10, 2000. Hours after his death, the Syrian constitution was amended.

The age requirement for becoming president was lowered from 40 to 34, which was Bashar al-Assad's age. On June 18, he became the general secretary of the Ba'ath Party.

Two days later, he was nominated for the presidency by the party.

He was elected president on July 10. Many in the country were against the transfer of power from father to son, but hopes had risen that the country would be governed more modernly, partly due to his education in the West.

In his first speech after being elected president, he promised a liberal economy and pledged to carry out some political reforms.

However, he rejected Western-style democracy on the grounds that it was not suitable for Syria. He also avoided policies that would reduce the power of the Ba'ath Party.

On the other hand, he eased restrictions on freedom of expression and the press. He had several hundred political prisoners released. This period was referred to as the Damascus Spring. However, this spring was short-lived. Months later, the Assad administration changed its stance.

Pro-reform activists were arrested. It was announced that economic reforms would be prioritized over political reforms. Assad also maintained his father's hardline stance on Israel. He demanded the return of the Golan Heights. He provided support to Palestinian and Lebanese groups.

In 2003, he opposed the invasion of Iraq. Relations with the US deteriorated further. He began using nationalist and anti-Western rhetoric in his speeches.

In 2005, he reshuffled the cabinet, dismissing government and military officials who remained from his father's era. He appointed younger names in their place.

The liberal economic steps he took during this period benefited only his close circle, not the public. Following being held responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, Syria was forced to withdraw its troops that had been in Lebanon since 1976.

Assad was re-elected president in the 2007 elections. There were criticisms that the elections were not fair. In his second term, he took steps to reduce his country's isolation from the international community.

He tried to improve relations with regional countries, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia. In March 2011, the Arab uprisings spread to Syria.

The Assad administration moved to suppress the protesters who took to the streets demanding democracy in a bloody manner.

Soldiers and tanks were sent to cities where protests intensified.

As reports of massacres began to arrive, Assad was saying that his country was the victim of an international conspiracy. In September 2011, the uprisings turned into an armed resistance.

Ceasefire efforts by the Arab League and the United Nations remained inconclusive.

By mid-2012, a full-scale civil war had broken out. In the July 2012 bombing of the government building, Assad's inner circle suffered heavy losses.

Among those who died in the attack were Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha and Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat. As attacks and demonstrations by opponents increased across the country, including in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad began to appear in public less frequently.

By the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013, while the opposition was supported by Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, the Assad administration was receiving support from Iran.

The Hezbollah organization in Lebanon also sent its militants to Syria to support the Assad administration.

Following the revelation that the Syrian army had carried out an attack with chemical weapons on August 21, 2013, calls began to be made for international intervention to topple the Assad regime.

The Assad regime denied using chemical weapons.

China, Russia, and Iran opposed military intervention by Western countries to topple Assad.

To prevent this intervention, the US, Russia, and the Assad administration reached an agreement in September to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control.

Although the Assad administration stopped using chemical weapons, it began targeting areas held by the opposition with barrel bombs. Human rights organizations warned that the use of these bombs without regard for civilians would be considered a war crime.

As the civil war continued, with the emergence of ISIS in eastern Syria and western Iraq in 2013, the attention of the international community turned to the destruction of this organization.

Assad was elected president once again in the 2014 elections. Russia, which had long provided arms and political support to the Assad regime, became directly involved in the civil war in 2015 and began conducting military operations itself.

While Russian warplanes targeted the opposition, Russian ground troops were also sent to Syria. In April 2017, when it was understood that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons against civilians, the US struck an airbase in Syria in response.

In April 2018, after the Assad regime used chemical weapons once again, the US, UK, and France conducted airstrikes on Syria.

Thanks to the support of Russia and Iran, the Assad regime had recaptured almost all major cities from the opposition by the end of 2017.

Idlib, in the northwest of the country, remained under the control of the opposition.

Following the defeat of the opposition, the Assad regime took steps for the reconstruction of the country and the lifting of international sanctions.

The Assad administration made new moves to reduce its international isolation.

Bashar al-Assad visited the United Arab Emirates on March 18, 2022. This was his first visit to an Arab country since the beginning of the civil war.

On May 19, 2023, he attended the Arab League summit for the first time since 2011.

But during his time in power, Assad never received the prestige he desired from the international public. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in the Syrian civil war.