Bashir al-Azma

Infobox_Prime Minister
name = Bashir al-Azma
بشير العظَمة


imagesize =
order = Prime Minister of Syria
president = Nazim al-Kudsi
deputy =
term_start = April 16 1962
term_end = September 14 1962
predecessor = Maaruf al-Dawalibi
successor = Khalid al-Azm
birth_date = 1910
birth_place = Damascus, Syria
death_date = 1992 (aged 82)
death_place = Damascus, Syria
spouse =
party =
religion =

Bashir al-Azma, (1910-1992) ( _ar. بشير العظَمة), was a doctor and a Syrian Prime Minister from 16 April to 14 September 1962.

Biography

He was born in and raised in Damascus. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Medicine from Damascus University and his graduate in Paris. He became the Minister of Health under the United Arab Republic (UAR) but resigned due to a conflict with Gamal Abdel Nasser. Later, he became the Prime Minister of Syria after the dissolution of the UAR.

Bashir al-Azma was one of several Syrian Prime Ministers who intended to keep Syria out of the East-West conflict and demonstrate its passive approach to it. On 22 April, 1962, al-Azma declared on Radio Damascus that Syria's foreign policy continued to be based on "the principles of positive neutrality and non-alignment with military blocs, non-participation in the Cold War, and respect for the principles of the UN Charter." [Shalom, Zakai. "Israel's Nuclear Option." Sussex, Sussex Academic Press. 2005. ]

Notes and References