Decided to start a thread on rare pictures of Syria’s contemporary political history using @syrianhistory’s massive photo vault.

P.S: It will remain non-partisan, because Syria’s history is for all Syrians.

1) Officers at the Aleppo Military Club, September 1949

1) From left to right: Louai al-Atasi (future president of the Revolutionary Command Council), unknown, Adel Miri (future governor of al-Hassake during the Syrian-Egyptian union), Faisal al-Shishakli. Standing is Abdul Razzaq al-Homsi.

3) Gamal Abdul Nasser with his Syrian and Egyptian Vice-Presidents in 1958

From left to right: Gamal Abdul Nasser, Abdul Hamid al-Sarraj, Hussein al-Shafii.

#Egypt #Syria #UAR

4) Khaled Bakdash, secretary-general of the Syrian Communist Party from 1935 to 1995.

#SCP #Bakdash

5) President Hafez al-Assad and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 9 September 1972.

#Syria #India

Syrian Ambassador Nasib al-Barki presenting his credentials to King Hussein of Jordan in 1955.

#Syria #Jordan

7) President Shukri al-Quwatli and Prime Minister Sabri al-Asali with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Masser in Cairo - February 1958

8) Beauty Queen of Aleppo Mayssa Moudarres in 1957.

9) The last known photo of ex-President Nureddine al-Atasi after his release from jail and before his death in 1992.

Standing next to him is veteran Baathist Naser al-Shamali.

10) #SSNP founder Antoun Saadeh with friends in 1947.

Antune Saadeh is pictured with Dr Abdullah Saadeh and his wife Dr May Saadeh with their child Hanna Saadeh.

#SSNP #Syria #Lebanon

11) President Hafez al-Assad addressing parliament in 1976.

#Syria #PeoplesCouncil

12) Presidents Hafez al-Assad and Fidel Castro in 1979.

#Syria #Cuba

13) Damascus Jews in the early 1920s

#Syria #Judaism #SyrianJews

14) Michel Aflaq, co-founder of the Ba’ath Party, living in Baghdad in the 1980s.

#Syria #BaathParty #Aflaq

15) General Adib al-Shishakli with US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles - Damascus 1953

#Syria #US

16) President Hafez al-Assad with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt - 1978.

#Syria #Germany

17) Infamous Israeli spy Elie Cohen hanged in Damascus - May 1965

#Syria #Israel

18) An early picture of President Hafez al-Assad, as an officer in the Syrian Air Force in the 1950s.

#Syria #Assad

19) President Hashem al-Atasi returning to power in Syria, after the downfall of Adib al-Shishakli - March 1, 1954

#Syria #Atasi

20) President Shukri al-Quwatli at the Women’s Union Conference in Damascus in 1957.

#Syria #Quwatli

21) Prime Minister Fares al-Khury at the UN in 1946.

From left to right: Fares al-Khury, Secretary-General of the Syrian Presidency Issam al-Inklizi, Egyptian Ambassador to the UN Mahmud Fawzi.

#Syria #UnitedNations #UN #NewYork

22) Air Force pilot Fayez Mansour, killed in Lebanon in 1970.

Mansour is regared as the best Syrian Airforce pilot in history, having downed 15 Israeli jets between 1956-1970.

He is also credited for developing the Cobra maneuver.

#SAA #SyAAF #IAF #Syria #Israel

23) President Hafez al-Assad and his son Basel al-Assad in 1989.

From left to right: Republican Guard Commander Adnan Makhlouf, President Hafez al-Assad, Republican Guard officer Basel al-Assad.

#Syria #Assad #RepublicanGuard

24) Deputy Army Commander Adnan al-Malki with Nicolas Salameh, director of the Officers Club - 1955

#SyrianArmy #Malki

25) President Gamal Abdul Nasser cheering to the masses in Damascus in 1958

Behind President Nasser is Interior Minister Abdul Hamid al-Sarraj, and behind Sarraj stands Kamal Jumblatt, the MP and Lebanese leader who was an articulate and fervent Arab nationalist.

#UAR #Nasser

26) Former Syrian Prime Minister of Kurdish origin, Husni al-Barazi, in 1954.

#SyrianKurds

27) English Musician @OfficialSting standing with his wife Trudie Styler, facing Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma al-Assad in #Damascus 2008.

#Syria #Sting