Lieutenant general Hasan Turkmani | |
|---|---|
حسن توركماني | |
| Deputy Vice President for Military Affairs | |
| In office 3 June 2009 – 18 July 2012 | |
| President | Bashar al-Assad |
| Prime Minister | Muhammad Naji al-Otari Adel Safar Riyad Farid Hijab |
| 13thMinister of Defense | |
| In office 12 May 2004 – 3 June 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Mustafa Tlass |
| Succeeded by | Ali Habib Mahmud |
| 18thChief of Staff of the Syrian Army | |
| In office 23 January 2002 – 12 May 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Ali Aslan |
| Succeeded by | Ali Habib Mahmud |
| Member of theRegional Command of theSyrian Regional Branch | |
| In office 9 June 2005 – 18 July 2012 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 January 1935 |
| Died | 18 July 2012 (aged 77) |
| Political party | Ba'ath Party |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | .svg) Second Syrian Republic (1955–1958) United Arab Republic (1958–1961)Second Syrian Republic (1961–1963)Ba'athist Syria (1963–2012) |
| Branch/service |  Syrian Army |
| Years of service | 1955–2012 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars | |
Hasan Ali Turkmani (Arabic:حسن توركماني; 27 January 1935 – 18 July 2012) was a Syrian military officer and politician who served asSyria'sMinister of Defense from 2004 to 2009.[1]
He was among four top Syrian government officials killed in abombing inDamascus on 18 July 2012.
Hasan Turkmani was born inAleppo in 1935 into a SyrianSunni Muslim family[2][3] ofTurkmen origin.[4]
Turkmani joined theSyrian Army in 1955 as an infantry officer. He was one of the first officers to graduate on the new mechanized units of theBMP-1 andBTR-60 armoured vehicles. He completed a staff course for combined arms operations from East Germany in 1965, and a Command and Staff Course from Egypt in 1969. He commanded the9th Mechanized Infantry Division which fought a crucial rearguard action around Damascus in 1973.[5] He was promoted to the rank of major general in 1975.[2] Turkmani also began to serve as a member of the central committee ofthe Baath Party beginning in 2000.[6][7] He was the deputy chief of staff inthe Syrian army until 2002.[8] He was appointed chief of staff on 23 January 2002, replacingAli Aslan.[2][9] Since he was aSunni Muslim, his appointment was considered as a move to restore a touch of sectarian diversity to Syria's military-intelligence establishment, which had been dominated byAlawites.[2]
On 12 May 2004, he became defense minister, replacingMustafa Tlass.[10][11] On the other hand,Ali Habib Mahmoud succeeded Turkmani as chief of staff.[11] In June 2006, Turkmani visitedTehran and signed a strategic alliance agreement with his Iranian counterpartMustafa Mohammad Najjar to form a joint defense committee.[12]
Turkmani was replaced in June 2009 by the former army chiefAli Habib Mahmud as defense minister.[13] On 3 June 2009, President Bashar Assad appointed Turkmani as assistant vice president with the rank of minister.[14] He was also appointed chief of crisis operations and was widely blamed for the campaign of torture in Syria.[15] In addition, Turkmani was a military advisor to Vice FresidentFarouk Sharaa.[16]
In June 2011, President Bashar al-Assad send a special military and security delegation led by General Hasan Turkmani to the Turkish capital ofAnkara to meet Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.[17] On 15 June 2011, Turkmani said that they would discuss relations between Turkey and Syria, congratulate Erdoğan on his election victory and thank him welcoming Syrian refugees into the country.[18]
On 19 May 2012, theFree Syrian Army's (FSA) Damascus council announced that one of their operatives from the FSA's Al Sahabeh battalion had successfully poisoned all eight members of Bashar Assad'sCentral Crisis Management Cell (CCMC), a group of top military officials who ran the Syrian army's daily operations. The Free Syrian Army's Damascus council said they believed at least six of the eight members, including Turkmani,Assef Shawkat,Mohammad al-Shaar,Daoud Rajha,Hisham Ikhtiyar and Mohammad Said Bakhtian, had been killed. Mohammad al-Shaar, then interior minister, and Hasan Turkmani, then assistant vice president, denied their rumoured deaths on State TV, calling it "categorically baseless".[19][20]
Hasan Turkmani was assassinated on 18 July 2012in a bombing by opposition militants on a meeting of theCentral Crisis Management Cell (CCMC) at the national security building inRawda Square, north-west Damascus, where the minister of defenseDawoud Rajiha, his deputyAssef Shawkat and other top officials were also killed.[21] Turkmani died of his wounds after the attack.[22] Dozens of civiliants were injured. A state funeral was held for him, Dawoud Rajiha and Assef Shawkat in Damascus on 20 July 2012.[23]
Hasan Turkmani's son Muhammad Bilal owned the weekly political magazineAbyad wa Aswad ("Black and White" in English).[1][24]
He was born in Aleppo, the capital of northern Syria, in 1935 to parents of Turkish origins. He studied in the city until he enrolled in the Military Academy, graduating as an expert in field artillery.
| Arab Kingdom of Syria (1920) | |
|---|---|
| French Mandate of Syria (1920–1946) post established 1932 |  |
| First and Second Syrian Republic (1946–1958) | |
| United Arab Republic (1958–1961) | %2c_Flag_of_Syria_(1980%25E2%2580%25932024).svg) |
| Second Syrian Republic (1961–1963) | |
| Ba'athist Syria (1963–2024) post-1963 Syrian coup d'état | |
| Transitional period (2024–present) | .svg) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
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