Even Assad supporters enjoy reforms in Syria

Amid escalating tension in Syria, in addition to refugees a number of Syrian tourists have also come to Hatay, a southern Turkish province bordering Syria where tent cities for Syrian refugees have been set up. It can be easily noticed that there is a large number of Syrians who are not affected by what is going on in the country and who are going about their daily lives hoping that the uprising will not last much longer and that the Syrian army gains control of the protest-ridden cities.

Rami Saker, an IT specialist from Damascus, says a large segment of the Syrian population supports Bashar Al-Assad in his fight against the opposition uprising. Saker and his best friend, Agi -- who does not want to give his full name and who has business outside of Syria -- decided to meet in Hatay to see each other.

There is a distinction between being against Assad and being against the Ba’ath regime in Syria, according to our observations from the region. Assad is a popular and well-liked leader in Syria, unlike toppled leaders Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia. One Syrian showed me videos on his laptop of Assad and his wife visiting public places, eating in ordinary restaurants and visiting a Christian Church. For them, he is the people’s leader.

After talking to Syrians on the streets of Hatay, one thing stands out from the rest: The initial concerns that the events would turn into a sectarian war have no merit as there is a great mix of different groups in society located on either side of the political spectrum.

“For example I am Alawi and Agi is a Sunni Kurd. Yet we are best friends and we both like Assad. Assad himself is Alawi and his wife is Sunni. On the other hand my aunt who lives in Lebanon is a Sunni, and so are my nephew and niece. My uncle who lives in France is married to a Syrian Christian. There are also people who belong to different sects and are opposed to Assad. Therefore, it is impossible to separate Syrian society and blame a single sect or ethnic group for being behind these events,” Sakher and Agi told Sunday’s Zaman.

Another family of four who came to visit Hatay as tourists from the Syrian city of Latakia told Sunday’s Zaman that they are happy to live in Syria despite the uprisings that have been plaguing the country for the past few months. The wife and the daughter, who is 16, both wear the hijab. The mom says she has German citizenship and that the family lived in Germany for years before deciding to go back to Syria.

They are happy to live in Syria because they say they can lead their lives normally and disagree that it is no longer safe to live in Syria nowadays. The only wish they do have is that the situation in Syria will be resolved and that things will go back to normal as soon as possible. Saker and Agi say the existing regime -- which they call the “system” -- has committed many wrongs in the last 40 years. Yet they also state that these wrongdoings cannot be reversed or resolved overnight. “[Assad] introduces new reforms almost every day. We feel that our lives are already getting better. Right off the bat, he changed the government and he eliminated the state of emergency that had been in effect for years. Recently I had to see a minister because of a job-related issue and was able to see him three hours after I made the request. Before the reforms it would have taken me a hefty amount of bribes and maybe more than a year to be able to see a minister,” Saker says.

According to Saker, the right to demonstrate has now been introduced, and those who want to peacefully demonstrate can apply to the Ministry of Security and police will also accompany any demonstrations to ensure people’s safety.

To support this view Agi says that when Assad came to power he was only 34 years old. Yet, in the last 11 years he has gained enough experience to transform the system according to the people’s demands, he adds. This is why Saker and Agi say they are against the way the foreign media are handling the issue and personally attacking Assad, accusing him of not compromising with opposition demands.

“If there is a leader who is able to do it, it is Bashar,” they note. Agi also recalls that there is no such guarantee that the system will change when the leader is gone, adding that in Egypt and Tunisia the old rules are still in place and therefore he has doubts that things would change with a new leader. “As long as the old rules are in place and the old system still persists, it does not really matter who will be the next leader,” he says.

According to them there are also a few examples where demands for freedom exceed reasonable boundaries. For example, in areas where the height of the buildings is limited due to regulations based on geographic and historical considerations, people all of a sudden have started added more storeys, disregarding the law and taking advantage of the disarray in the country. When police arrive at the scene asking them why they have built extra storeys when it is against the law, they start shouting “Hurriyah, hurriyah!” which means freedom in Arabic.

Internet social networking sites are the Syrian people’s biggest weapon in broadcasting their voices and making sure they are heard. The Syrians on both sides can organize within seconds, reaching thousands in a matter of minutes on the Internet. “Now even the people against Assad would like to see the dust settle as they also want to be able to go about their ordinary lives without disruption,” they reiterate.