The British Syrian Society is an association set up to promote relations between the government of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was established in 2003 by

Fawaz Akhras Fawas Akhras ( ar, فواز أخرس) (born September 1946) is a Syrian–English cardiologist known for being the father-in-law of Bashar al-Assad and chairman of the British Syrian Society. Biography Akhras qualified in medicine in 1973. Akh ...

, father-in-law of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

. Its current directors include Akhras, Lord Asquith, Lord Green, Major-General John Holmes, and Peter Ford, former British ambassador to Syria. As part of its

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

work, the Society has over the years hosted visits to Syria by several

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. Several of these subsequently voted against the

Cameron–Clegg coalition The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new administration, following the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010, after the gene ...

government in 2013 on the issue of British military intervention in the Syrian civil war including

Richard Shepherd Sir Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd (6 December 1942 – 19 February 2022) was a British politician who was Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills from 1979 to 2015. A Eurosceptic, Shepherd was one of the Maastricht Rebels that had ...

Crispin Blunt Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt (born 15 July 1960) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Reigate since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and ...

, and

David TC Davies David Thomas Charles Davies (born 27 July 1970) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Wales since 2022 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Monmouth since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, he chaired the Wels ...

. In September 2011, the

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

bank said it would no longer represent the Society. Its co-chair Sir Andrew Green, a former British ambassador to Syria, resigned after emails showed Dr Akhras had advised Assad on how to rebut evidence of civilians apparently being tortured. Dr Akhras had used a private email channel to the Syrian leader to offer advice on how the Syrian government should handle criticism of its suppression of the opposition uprising, including how to counter video footage appearing to show the torture of children. Other resignations included the society's treasurer, Brian Constant, and Sir

Gavyn Farr Arthur Sir Gavyn Farr Arthur KStJ (13 September 1951 – 16 May 2016) was a British judge and prominent figure in the City of London who served as the 675th Lord Mayor from 2002 to 2003. Early life The only surviving son of Major Leonard Arthur, JP ...

, a former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. In 2016, the BSS organised an international conference in Damascus, described by the

Council for Arab-British Understanding The Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), is a not-for-profit organisation that works for a British Middle East policy rooted in support for international law, human rights and civil society. Since it was founded in 1967, Caabu has taken ...

as a Syrian government "PR exercise". Speakers included

Bouthaina Shaaban Bouthaina Shaaban ( ar, بثينة شعبان) (born 1953 in Homs, Syria) is a Syrian politician and political and media adviser to the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Shaaban served as the first Minister of Expatriates for the Syrian Ar ...

, Ali Haidar and Fares Shehabi.

References

{{reflist

External links

British Syrian Society
Syria–United Kingdom relations Organizations established in 2003 International friendship associations

See also

References

External links