The Al Assad family, in power since 1970, has long promoted certain well-connected members of the
Alawite minority -- about 12 per cent of the population -- to key posts in the regime, has favoured some
Alawites with its social policies, and has set up Alawite-dominated elite military units.
An anti-Assad
Alawite group hinted it carried out the attacks
The deployment followed a warning by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an that Turkey was bent on protecting both the Turkoman and Sunni Arab minorities in northern Iraq, particularly the Turkoman town of Tal A'far, between Mosul and the Syrian border, which the IRGC intends to use as a strategic bridge between Iran and Syria's
Alawite coast on the Mediterranean Sea, where Russia was building a permanent base for its naval forces in Tartus south of its giant air-base near Latakia
Summary: Future Movement MP Khodr Habib said Tuesday that he filed an appeal challenging the results of last month's Tripoli elections for failing to represent the city's Christian and
Alawite communities.
In 1966, however, the Ba'thist regime was taken over by members of Syria's
Alawite minority who re-made the party to suit their interests, as well as the armed forces and numerous security units.
Some have found it difficult to use terms such as "Shiite," "Sunni" and "
Alawite" when describing events in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The regime's notable cohort of
Alawite leaders and the support that it draws from many
Alawites and other ethnic and religious minorities as a bulwark against the majority Sunni population that has spearheaded the revolt is also cited as a key factor for its durability.
One problem the Baathists had to grapple with, however, was the dominant position members of the minority
Alawite sect held within the regime.
Forces loyal to Assad, whose
Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, are also in control of most of Homs.