Yaziji was appointed as Minister of Tourism on 8/22/13, and he appears beholden to no person or thing other than his own vision of restoring Syria's vital tourist industry. Born in Aleppo in 1972, Yaziji is a businessman, and he is currently the youngest member of the Assad Cabinet. With a Bachelor's degree in Informatics Engineering from Aleppo University (1995), he is possessed with distinctively Kennedyesque good looks, voices progressive ideas, and exerts a charm and charisma that instantly connects with ordinary citizens and foreigners alike. Not affiliated with the Baath Party, Yaziji is an independent and was elected as such to the People's Assembly, or the Syrian parliament. This observer has closely followed his work, both in the media and from direct personal experience.
Prior to the conflict, tourism brought in more than $8 billion annually, and as one admirer of Yaziji, who also works in government, put it, "The Tourism Ministry is working to reconnect to the world the way we Syrians used to reach out." The official added:
"Syria's treasures, from the cradle of civilization that we are, fundamentally belong to all of humanity, and please accept our promise--that we will do our best to repair all damage to the antiquities and will welcome assistance, as we shall welcome every visitor again, before long, enshallah (God willing)."
Minister Yaziji appears to thrive on the broad scope and depth of his work,
which in fact includes visiting Syrian archaeological sites and drawing international
focus on the need to protect and restore humanity's collective cultural
heritage, of which the people of Syria are the custodians. He also spends his
time participating in youth festivals, visiting wounded citizens in hospitals,
and recently attended a "Loyalty to Syria" gathering, where he stressed the
importance of NGOs in conveying the reality of events in Syria to the global
public. At that gathering he also discussed the unparalleled richness of the
country's historical and religious monuments, and spoke of "boosting the
social values and developing national capacity to serve the best interest of
Syria."
This new generation of Syrian officials is dedicated to ameliorating the
country's humanitarian crisis as well as preserving our global heritage. They
have been indefatigable in their around-the- clock projects, and they need to
be encouraged, not hindered. In an interview with Reuters on 6/28/14, Yaziji
said the sanctions will not interfere with his work--and he also said he has
never been involved with any "human rights violations" of any sort. Some have
pointed to the curious timing of this latest round of sanctions, so soon after
the presidential election, and have suggested that in reality it is a form of
collective punishment of the Syrian people--for daring to vote the wrong way, or
in a way disapproved of by the EU and the rest of the West.
The EU has spoken piously of "Cultural Heritage--our debt to the
past, our promise to the future,"
and claims that it seeks to "promote culture as a catalyst for creativity,"
but its actions last month belie this. If it truly seeks to implement its
claimed humanitarian values, the EU should work to open the paths of these
Syrian officials, not close them. At the very least it should desist from
layering more "show sanctions" upon those in Syria who are striving to salvage
their country. Yaziji and Shammat are Syrian patriots whose invaluable work the
EU should be encouraging rather than hindering with politically motivated
sanctions and silly, gratuitous defamations of character.
Few in the Syrian Arab Republic these days question the urgency and enormity of
the task of reconstructing their ancient country from war-caused destruction, the
fall-out from a conflict already more than half as long as World War I and
approaching two-thirds as long as World War II. For this ten-millennium
civilization, emergency measures are needed to protect its thousands of
priceless archaeological treasures, both from the ravages of war as well as
plunder and illegal excavation wrought by thieves. The Syrian government has
given high priority to the preservation of cultural heritage, a policy that
presumably not many in the EU would openly disagree with. Yet the EU's
ill-considered sanctions are harming multi-faceted restoration efforts--by
intimidating members of the international public who want to help and by
attempting to isolate Syrian officials whose full schedules these days are consumed
by humanitarian undertakings as well as projects aimed at restoring cultural
heritage sites and preserving our link to the past. And by the way, some of
these sites they are working to protect are included on UNESCO's list of World
Heritage Sites. These include the Ancient City of Aleppo , the Ancient City of Bosra , Ancient City of Damascus , Ancient Villages of Northern
Syria , Crac des Chevaliers and Qal'at
Salah El-Din and
the Site of Palmyra .
Syria and her hardworking public servants will survive these gratuitous
political sanctions, but the sanctions likely will remain an indelible stain on
the EU and its claimed humanitarian principles for a long time to come.
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