Bashir al-Azma

Bashir al-Azma was a Syrian doctor and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Syria from 16 April to 14 September 1962. He was born in and raised in the capital Damascus. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Medicine from Damascus University and his graduate in Paris. He became the Minister of Health under the United Arab Republic (UAR) but resigned due to a conflict with Gamal Abdel Nasser. Later, he became the Prime Minister of Syria after the dissolution of the UAR. Bashir al-Azma was one of several Syrian Prime Ministers who intended to keep Syria out of the east–west conflict and demonstrate its passive approach to it. On 22 April 1962, al-Azma declared on Radio Damascus that Syria's foreign policy continued to be based on "the principles of positive neutrality and non-alignment with military blocs, non-participation in the Cold War, and respect for the principles of the UN Charter". He died in Damascus in 1992.