Lt-Gen Hasan Turkmani was appointed Tuesday as chief of staff of the Syrian army. He replaces Lt-Gen Ali Aslan, 72. A special ceremony to mark this event was held Wednesday in Damascus and attended by senior army officers and officers at the Syrian General Command.
Turkmani was born in Aleppo in 1935 and joined the army in 1954, where he joined the military academy and graduated as field artillery lieutenant, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
During his career in the Syrian military, he was appointed to various military posts including the command of mechanical division during the 1973 War.
During the ceremony, Turkmani delivered a speech in which he said “I will work hard with a sincere commitment to the march of modernization and development of our Armed Forces in order to make the dreams of our people come true under the leadership of President General Bashar al-Assad.”
According to Syrian sources, Ali Aslan’s leaving office was due to a regular retirement procedure. He was considered an apolitical professional officer and Bashar loyalist. Less than four years ago, Syria’s late President Hafez al-Assad appointed Aslan to the post.
Aslan commanded the 5th Division of the Syrian Army during the October 1973 War. It was the most successful division from the Syrian armored forces in the Golan Heights. Following this war, Aslan was one of the key figures to rehabilitate the Syrian Army. (Albawaba.com)
