End of an era: Walid El Muallim



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One of the most prominent names in Middle Eastern politics, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid El Muallim has died at the age of 79. Muallim Hafez was one of the statesmen representing the Assad period. Faruk al-Shara is still alive in Syria since that time. It shouldn’t be limited to Syria alone, with Muallim’s death, an era has come to an end for the Middle East region.

Velid Muallim has become one of the most talked about names, especially with the events that began in 2011. Because it was one of the names that represented the administration in the years that passed with dizzying speed.

The beginning of events in Syria, the attitude of the administration, the trials experienced are a separate topic of discussion, but Walid El Muallim was known as a “respected diplomat” before the events and did not change his position during the war. .

El Muallim was one of the names who clearly demonstrated his attitude and met the requirements of diplomacy in international politics, which was carried out considering “the possibility of changing the situation every morning”.

For this reason he has earned the respect of his friends and enemies.

One of the areas to which the Syrian administration has given great importance in the process started in 2011 was diplomacy. In countries such as Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, the differences between internal and external (abroad) and to be experienced in Syria would greatly weaken the power of the administration. However, with a few exceptions, there was no separation under the administration of El Muallim. This is seen as Al Muallim’s success in Syria.

Al-Muallim was seen by some Western diplomats as Syria’s “Andrey Gromyko”. The nickname “Mr No” for Andrey Gromyko was created for him as well.

El Muallim, who by that time had passed Hafez Assad’s studies and had obtained his diplomatic education, was a “difficult” man. Also for Velid El Muallim the stereotype of “negotiations after having put down two kilos of ice” was expressed. He was famous for not getting up without getting what he wanted when he sat down at the negotiating table.

Velid El Muallim showed the same attitude in 2011. This attitude has always been in the spotlight in Arab countries, the Arab League, the United Nations, Vienna, in the trials and bilateral meetings in Geneva and in the visits to Damascus.

He was wrong about the following: in a press conference he gave at the beginning of events, he said “The West does not attack Syria because we have no oil”, but the developments did not happen as he had foreseen.

He held the position of Secretary of State until the day of his death, where he arrived after various missions, including the American Embassy.

Walid Al-Muallim had undertaken an important mission as Deputy Prime Minister during the Lebanon dossier in 2005, the war in Iraq and the nearly 10-year spell in Syria, and he managed to carry this process forward with his uncompromising stance. For this reason it was heavily criticized by opponents, while praised by the pro-government.

Regardless, it was among the names representing a period in the harsh Middle Eastern climate it has been in since the 1970s.

Born in Damascus to a Sunni family, he continued the BAAS ideology until the end of his life.

El Muallim’s death is considered a great loss for Bashar Assad. It appears that the Syrian administration will have difficulty replacing Al-Muallim, who led the 2011 trial along with his deputy Faisal Al-Mikdat and Syria’s permanent representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari.

It might grab your attention

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