{{Short description|Syrian politician (1935–2012)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[Lieutenant General]] | name = Hasan Turkmani | honorific_suffix = | native_name = {{Script/Arabic|حسن توركماني}} | native_name_lang = ar | image = | caption = Hasan Turkmani in 2008. | birth_name = Hasan Ali Turkmani | birth_date = 1 January 1935 | birth_place = [[Aleppo]], [[French Mandate of Syria]] | death_date = 18 July 2012 (aged 77) | death_place = [[Damascus]], [[Ba'athist Syria|Syria]] | office = Deputy Vice President for Military Affairs | president = [[Bashar al-Assad]] | prime_minister = [[Muhammad Naji al-Otari]]<br>[[Adel Safar]]<br />[[Riyad Farid Hijab]] | predecessor = | successor = | term_start = 3 June 2009 | term_end = 18 July 2012 | office1 = 13th [[Ministry of Defense (Syria)|Minister of Defense]] | term_start1 = 12 May 2004 | term_end1 = 3 June 2009 | predecessor1 = [[Mustafa Tlass]] | successor1 = [[Ali Habib Mahmud]] | office2 = 18th [[Chief of the General Staff (Syria)|Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army]] | term_start2 = 23 January 2002 | term_end2 = 12 May 2004 | predecessor2 = [[Ali Aslan]] | successor2 = [[Ali Habib Mahmud]] | office3 = Member of the [[Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Regional Command]] of the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Regional Branch]] | term_start3 = 9 June 2005 | term_end3 = 18 July 2012 | rank = [[File:Syrian Arab Army Lieutenant General Services Uniform.png|30px]] [[Lieutenant General]] | party = [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Ba'ath Party]] | allegiance = {{flagicon image|Syria-flag 1932-58 1961-63.svg|25px}} [[Second Syrian Republic]] (1955–1958)<br />{{Flag|United Arab Republic}} (1958–1961)<br>{{flagicon image|Syria-flag 1932-58 1961-63.svg|25px}} [[Second Syrian Republic]] (1961–1963)<br />{{Flag|Ba'athist Syria}} (1963–2012) | branch = {{Army|Ba'athist Syria|name=Syrian Arab Army}} | battles = * [[Six-Day War]] * [[Yom Kippur War]] * [[Syrian Civil War]] | service_years = 1955–2012 }}
'''Hasan Ali Turkmani''' ({{langx|ar|حسن توركماني}}; 27 January 1935 – 18 July 2012) was a Syrian military officer and politician who served as [[Syria]]'s [[Ministry of Defense (Syria)|Minister of Defense]] from 2004 to 2009.<ref name=Bar_S.436>{{cite journal|last=Bar|first=Shmuel|title=Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview|journal=Comparative Strategy|year=2006|volume=25|issue=5|pages=436|url=http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf|access-date=15 May 2011|doi=10.1080/01495930601105412|s2cid=154739379|archive-date=23 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723214138/http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He was among four top Syrian government officials killed in a [[18 July 2012 Damascus bombing|bombing]] in [[Damascus]] on 18 July 2012.
==Early life == Hasan Turkmani was born in [[Aleppo]] in 1935 into a Syrian [[Sunni Muslim]] family<ref name=meib/><ref name="Fahim">{{cite news|last=Fahim|first=Kareem|title=Profiles of Syrian Officials Targeted in Damascus Blast|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 July 2012|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/world/middleeast/profiles-of-syrian-officials-targeted-in-damascus-blast.html|access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> of [[Syrian Turkmen|Turkmen]] origin.<ref>{{cite web|author=Al-Akhbar|date=2012|title=Damascus Bombing: The Assassinated Generals|work=Al Akhbar English |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/9987|access-date=9 October 2016|quote=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.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010130131/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/9987|archive-date=10 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Career== Turkmani joined the [[Syrian Army]] in 1955 as an infantry officer. He was one of the first officers to graduate on the new mechanized units of the [[BMP-1]] and [[BTR-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 the [[9th Armoured Division (Syria)|9th Mechanized Infantry Division]] which fought a crucial rearguard action around Damascus in 1973.<ref name=Batatu1999>{{cite book|author=Hanna Batatu|title=Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_Cvhg3YHIoC&pg=PA228|access-date=27 March 2013|year=1999|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-00254-5|pages=228}}</ref> He was promoted to the rank of major general in 1975.<ref name=meib/> Turkmani also began to serve as a member of the central committee of [[Ba'ath Party (Syria)|the Baath Party]] beginning in 2000.<ref name=mou1jun>{{cite journal|last=Moubayed|first=Sami|title=The faint smell of jasmine|journal=Al Ahram Weekly|date=26 May – 1 June 2005|volume=744|url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/744/re3.htm|access-date=2 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325171127/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/744/re3.htm|archive-date=25 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=Maddy-Weitzman2002>{{cite book|author=Bruce Maddy-Weitzman|title=Middle East Contemporary Survey, Vol. 24, 2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r01_GDIeTuUC&pg=PA558|access-date=8 March 2013|year=2002|publisher=The Moshe Dayan Center|isbn=978-965-224-054-5|pages=558}}</ref> He was the deputy chief of staff in [[Syrian Army|the Syrian army]] until 2002.<ref name=zisser>{{cite journal|last=Zisser|first=Eyal|title=Bashar al-Asad and his Regime- Between Continuity and Change|journal=Orient|date=June 2004|volume=45|issue=2|pages=239–256|url=http://www.ou.edu/mideast/Additional%20pages%20-%20non-catagory/Zisser_al-Asad_and_his_Regime_2004.htm|access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref> He was appointed chief of staff on 23 January 2002, replacing [[Ali Aslan]].<ref name=meib>{{cite journal|last=Gambill|first=Gary C.|title=The Military-Intelligence Shakeup in Syria|journal=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin|date=February 2002|volume=4|issue=2|url=http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0202_s1.htm|access-date=7 July 2012|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507121032/https://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0202_s1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=wire30mar>{{cite news|last=Blanche|first=Ed|title='Coup-proof' Arab regimes must tread carefully in changing world|url=http://www.lebanonwire.com/aa-lebanon/02033012DS.htm|access-date=6 April 2013|newspaper=Lebanon Wire|date=30 March 2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126201449/http://lebanonwire.com/aa-lebanon/02033012DS.htm|archive-date=26 November 2012}}</ref> Since he was a [[Sunni 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 by [[Alawites]].<ref name=meib/>
On 12 May 2004, he became defense minister, replacing [[Mustafa Tlass]].<ref name=hin2011>{{cite journal|last=Hinnebusch|first=Raymond|title=The Ba'th Party in Post-Ba'thist Syria: President, Party and the Struggle for 'Reform'|journal=Middle East Critique|year=2011|volume=20|issue=2|pages=109–125|doi=10.1080/19436149.2011.572408|s2cid=144573563}}</ref><ref name=Leverett2005>{{cite book|author=Flynt Lawrence Leverett|title=Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire|url=https://archive.org/details/inheritingsyria00flyn|url-access=registration|access-date=12 March 2013|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-5206-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/inheritingsyria00flyn/page/191 191]}}</ref> On the other hand, [[Ali Habib Mahmoud]] succeeded Turkmani as chief of staff.<ref name=Leverett2005/> In June 2006, Turkmani visited [[Tehran]] and signed a strategic alliance agreement with his Iranian counterpart [[Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar|Mustafa Mohammad Najjar]] to form a joint defense committee.<ref name=abb08win>{{cite journal|last=Samii|first=Abbas William|title=A Stable Structure on Shifting Sands: Assessing the Hizbullah-Iran-Syria Relationship|journal=Middle East Journal|date=Winter 2008|volume=62|issue=1|pages=32–53|doi=10.3751/62.1.12|url=http://sino-west.org/sjtu/Stable.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904231246/http://sino-west.org/sjtu/Stable.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=4 September 2012|access-date=15 March 2013}}</ref>
Turkmani was replaced in June 2009 by the former army chief [[Ali Habib Mahmud]] as defense minister.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria names new defence minister|publisher=[[France 24]]|date=3 June 2009|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20090603-syria-names-new-defence-minister}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On 3 June 2009, President Bashar Assad appointed Turkmani as assistant vice president with the rank of minister.<ref name=globalsec>{{cite web|title=Syria Military. Defense Ministry|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/syria/defense.htm|publisher=Global Security|access-date=5 July 2012}}</ref> He was also appointed chief of crisis operations and was widely blamed for the campaign of torture in Syria.<ref name=tdbeast>{{cite news|last=Ibish|first=Hussein|title=Assad is Doomed|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/18/assad-is-doomed.html|access-date=17 July 2012|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=17 July 2012}}</ref> In addition, Turkmani was a military advisor to Vice Fresident [[Farouk al-Sharaa|Farouk Sharaa]].<ref name=nyt1812>{{cite news|title=Blast Kills Core Syrian Security Officials|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/world/middleeast/suicide-attack-reported-in-damascus-as-more-generals-flee.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=18 July 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=18 July 2012|author=Neil MacFarquhar|author2=Dalal Mawad}}</ref>
In June 2011, President Bashar al-Assad send a special military and security delegation led by General Hasan Turkmani to the Turkish capital of [[Ankara]] to meet Turkish Prime Minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=225002 |work=The Jerusalem Post |title=Erdogan to Assad: Stop the violence, implement reforms |date=June 14, 2011 |access-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-06/15/content_12706909.htm |work=Xinhua |title=Syrian president's envoy to meet Turkish PM |date=June 15, 2011 |access-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref>
==Rumoured death== On 19 May 2012, the [[Free 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's [[Central Crisis Management Cell|Central 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 Ibrahim al-Shaar|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".<ref name=tgmay>{{cite news|title=Six senior figures in Assad regime killed, rebel army says|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2012/may/20/syria-damascus-clashes-assassinations#block-12|access-date=19 July 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=20 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=aarabiya20may>{{cite news|title=High-ranking Syrian officials deny reports of their own assassinations|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/20/215270.html|access-date=19 July 2012|newspaper=Al Arabiya|date=20 May 2012}}</ref>
==Assassination and funeral== Hasan Turkmani was assassinated on 18 July 2012 [[18 July 2012 Damascus bombing|in a bombing]] by opposition militants on a meeting of the [[Central Crisis Management Cell|Central Crisis Management Cell (CCMC)]] at the national security building in [[Rawda Square]], north-west Damascus, where the minister of defense [[Dawoud Rajiha]], his deputy [[Assef Shawkat]] and other top officials were also killed.<ref name=abcap>{{cite news|title=Ex-Syrian Defense Minister Said Killed in Damascus|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/fighting-spikes-damascus-vote-syria-16800432#.UAbIRGGmiGU|access-date=18 July 2012|newspaper=ABC|date=18 July 2012|author=Bassem Mroue|author2=Elizabeth A. Kennedy|agency=AP}}</ref> Turkmani died of his wounds after the attack.<ref name=reu1812>{{cite news|title=Bomb kills men at heart of Assad rule as Syria fight rages|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8610SH20120718|access-date=18 July 2012|newspaper=Reuters|date=18 July 2012|author=Dominic Evans|author2=Khaled Yacoub Oweis}}</ref> Dozens of civiliants were injured. A state funeral was held for him, Dawoud Rajiha and Assef Shawkat in Damascus on 20 July 2012.<ref name=naharnet2012>{{cite news|title=Syria National Security Chief Dies of Wounds, State Funerals Held for Slain Officials|url=http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/47225-syria-national-security-chief-dies-of-wounds-state-funerals-held-for-slain-officials|access-date=21 July 2012|newspaper=Naharnet|date=20 July 2012}}</ref>
==Personal life== Hasan Turkmani's son Muhammad Bilal owned the weekly political magazine ''[[Abyad wa Aswad]]'' ("Black and White" in English).<ref name=Bar_S.436/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Blandford|first=Nicholas|title=Syrian media liberalisation causes a stir|journal=The Middle East|date=1 February 2005|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Syrian+media+liberalisation+causes+a+stir%3A+Nicholas+Blanford+reports...-a0128792708|access-date=2 October 2013}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{SyriaDefenseMins}} {{SyrianArmyChiefsOfStaff}} {{Ba'ath Party}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turkmani}} [[Category:1935 births]] [[Category:2012 deaths]] [[Category:Politicians from Aleppo]] [[Category:Syrian Sunni Muslims]] [[Category:Syrian Turkmen people]] [[Category:Ministers of defense of Syria]] [[Category:Members of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region]] [[Category:Chiefs of staff of the Syrian Army]] [[Category:Military personnel killed in the Syrian civil war]] [[Category:Syrian military personnel of the Syrian civil war]] [[Category:Assassinated Syrian politicians]] [[Category:Deaths by explosive device]] [[Category:Terrorism deaths in Syria]] [[Category:Assassinated Syrian military personnel]] [[Category:2012 murders in Syria]] [[Category:Homs Military Academy alumni]] [[Category:Asian politicians assassinated in the 2010s]] [[Category:Politicians assassinated in 2012]]