{"id":2378971,"date":"2024-12-11T14:38:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T19:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/assad-wanted-to-create-alawite-statelet-but-russia-rebuffed-him-report\/"},"modified":"2024-12-11T14:40:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T19:40:04","slug":"assad-wanted-to-create-alawite-statelet-but-russia-rebuffed-him-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/assad-wanted-to-create-alawite-statelet-but-russia-rebuffed-him-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Assad wanted to create Alawite statelet but Russia rebuffed him: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fassad-wanted-to-create-alawite-statelet-but-russia-rebuffed-him-report%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2378971&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former Syrian \u2064President \u2063Bashar\u200d Assad allegedly approached Russian President Vladimir Putin wiht a proposal to establish an Alawite statelet along Syria&#8217;s coast \u2063as \u200ca <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/milwaukee-outlasts-kevin-durant-and-the-brooklyn-nets-in-epic-game-seven\/\" title=\"Milwaukee Outlasts Kevin Durant And The Brooklyn Nets In Epic Game Seven\">final attempt<\/a> to maintain\u2062 his\u2062 power. Though, Russia rejected this idea, viewing it as a strategy that would lead to the division of Syria. While discussions about a \u200bcoastal Alawite state have\u2063 been mentioned by some analysts \u200cand Russian \u200cmilitary\u2063 bloggers, this report from the \u2062Syrian Observatory for Human Rights marks \u2062the first mainstream acknowledgment of \u200dthe proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Syria, predominantly\u200b Sunni, has been \u200druled for\u200b over\u200b five decades by the Alawite Assad family, an offshoot of Shia Islam. Historically,\u200b an Alawite state existed during the French colonial period from 1922 to 1936,\u2062 but it was \u200cdissolved \u2063as \u2062part of a compromise with nationalist movements. The notion of reviving this <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">state gained traction<\/a> during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mercyme-debuts-new-single-for-crew-member-who-lost-all-four-limbs\/\" title=\"\u2018MercyMe\u2019 Debuts New Single for Crew Member Who Lost All Four Limbs\">early days<\/a>\u200d of \u2062the Syrian\u200d civil \u200dwar, notably when Assad&#8217;s \u200bregime appeared vulnerable, before the tide shifted due to the involvement of Iranian \u200dand \u2062Russian forces.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Assad wanted to create statelet along Syrian coast with Russian backing as last ditch effort to remain in power: Report<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1908001\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/syria\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Syrian\">Syrian<\/a> President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bashar-assad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Bashar al-Assad\">Bashar Assad<\/a> was reportedly turned down after asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to help establish an Alawite statelet along Syria&rsquo;s coast.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Russia rejected the proposal,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/live\/c8781yyqddrt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"According to\"> according to<\/a> the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, because it saw it as a project to divide Syria. The possibility of the establishment of a coastal Alawite state had been floated by some analysts and Russian military bloggers, but SOHR is the first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fmr-fda-commissioner-encourages-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid-19\/\" title=\"Fmr. FDA commissioner encourages investigation into the origins of COVID-19\">mainstream report<\/a> on the prospect.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Syrian President Bashar Assad light candles while visiting an Orthodox cathedral for Christmas, in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 7, 2020. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Syria is majority Sunni, but for the past 54 years, has been ruled by the Alawite Assad family. The Alawites are a Shiite offshoot known for their syncretic views and less strict adherence to Islamic dietary restrictions. The small global Alawite population is primarily concentrated along Syria&rsquo;s coast.<\/p>\n<p>An Alawite State existed under French colonial rule, largely favored because Alawites were more favorable to the French than Sunni Syrians. Similar projects were undertaken in favor of Maronite Christians, who were given Greater Lebanon and a Druze state in southern Syria. The Alawite State lasted from 1922 to 1936 before being incorporated into the wider Syria as a compromise by French authorities with Syrian Arab nationalists.<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of reviving the Alawite State was raised in the early days of the Syrian civil war, when the tide looked to be turning against Assad, before Iranian and Russian intervention. A Washington Institute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtoninstitute.org\/sites\/default\/files\/pdf\/PolicyFocus132_Heras4.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"report\">report<\/a> from 2013 said the hypothetical state would have been made up of Latakia and Tartus Governorates &mdash; the only two with majority Alawite populations, in addition to a substantial Christian minority.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of a Russian-backed Alawite State has some support among Russia&rsquo;s elites, who are cognizant of the strategic significance of their bases in the country.<\/p>\n<p>The former speaker of the Russian separatist parliament in Novorossiya, Oleg Tsaryov, once likely slated to lead a pro-Russian government in Ukraine, expressed support for the creation of an Alawite State.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The best guarantee of [Christian and Alawite] freedoms would be the restoration of the Alawite State. Well, or at least the status that the Kurds de facto have in Syria (and this would save Europe from a new flow of refugees). Well, and the guarantee of such a status would be Russian military bases,&rdquo; he said in a Telegram <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/olegtsarov\/19921\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"post\">post<\/a> on the day of Damascus&rsquo;s fall.<\/p>\n<p>One Russian milblogger, MIG Russia, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/mig41\/38605\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"suggested\">suggested<\/a> forming the Alawi People&rsquo;s Republic and holding a referendum on whether to join Russia.<\/p>\n<p>The Assad regime put the minority Alawites into key leadership positions, connecting them in popular perception with the regime. Analysts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/11\/16\/opinion\/the-worlds-next-genocide.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"warned\">warned<\/a> that a genocide of Alawites could take place in the event of Assad&rsquo;s fall.<\/p>\n<p>Christians, who were protected and also held prominently under the Assad regime, were also targets of militant violence. Even during the early anti-Assad protests in the spring of 2011, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mei.edu\/publications\/alawi-community-and-syria-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"common chant\">common chant<\/a> was &ldquo;Alawis to the grave and Christians to Beirut!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The now-dominant faction in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, an outgrowth of al Qaeda, has pledged tolerance of all minorities. However, its forces are made up of jihadist militants, who were shown on video committing a slew of atrocities, including beheadings and the desecration of corpses during their lightning offensive that led to Assad&rsquo;s collapse.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hulme_edward\/status\/1866508472730407341\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Videos\">Videos<\/a> posted on social media after the fall of the Assad regime <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IqraBooklover\/status\/1866489916127158443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"purport\">purport<\/a> to show the murder of Alawites by Sunni Islamic militants.<\/p>\n<p>If such abuses continue, the majority Alawite population could revive Assad&rsquo;s alleged plan, with or without him at the head. The former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-taking-regeneron-drug-remdesivir-therapy-for-coronavirus-diagnosis-ex-wh-doctor-explains\/\" title=\"Trump taking Regeneron drug, Remdesivir therapy for coronavirus diagnosis: ex-WH doctor explains\">president<\/a> has gone into exile with his family in Russia, reportedly with no interest in returning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1908001\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1908001\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Assad sought Russian aid to establish a coastal Alawite state but was denied<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2378972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Assad-Putin.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[46602,18545,32726,4280,46603],"class_list":["post-2378971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alawite","tag-assad","tag-middle-east","tag-russia","tag-statelet"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Assad-Putin.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2378971"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2378975,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378971\/revisions\/2378975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2378972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2378971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2378971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2378971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}