President of Syria from 2000 to 2024 Bashar Hafez al-Assad is a former Syrian politician, medical doctor, military officer, and dictator who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until his overthrow in 2024 after the Syrian civil war. He is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria from 1970 to 2000. His rule as president was a highly personalist dictatorship that governed Syria as a totalitarian police state, becoming arguably more repressive than his father. In August 2026, Assad was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a Syrian court and sentenced to death in absentia. Wikipedia's most-read article for 2 days in a row: 2,855,711 views in all, peaking at 1,941,915 on December 8, 2024. Sun, Dec 8: 1,941,915 views Mon, Dec 9: 913,796 views Wiki link