soviet union

Prime Minister Jabiri with Parliament Secretary-General Fayek al-Nehlawi and Russian Ambassador Daniel Solod
Prime Minister Saadallah al-Jabiri with Fayek al-Nehlawi (left), the secretary-general of the Syrian Parliament, and Daniel Solod, the Russian Ambassador to Syria, in 1944. The USSR was among the first to recognize Syria's independence from France, and extend recognition to the regime of President Shukri al-Quwatli in 1943.

Arab and Western Ambassadors presenting their credentials to President Quwatli in 1944
From left to right: Jordanian Ambassador Abdul Monem al-Rifaii, US Ambassador George Wadsworth, Soviet Ambassador Daniel Solod, Iraqi Ambassador Tahseen Qadri, Saudi Ambassador Abdul Aziz Ibin Zayd, the French General Delegate to Syria and Lebanon, General Beynet, Prime Minister Fares al-Khury, President Shukri al-Quwatli, British Ambassador Edward Spears, Speaker of Parliament Saadallah al-Jabiri, and Foreign Minister Jamil Mardam Bey.

President Shukri al-Quwatli with top Soviet officials at the Kremlin in Moscow on October 22, 1956
From left to right: Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (former chief official under Joseph Stalin and senior Communist Party official), Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov (member of the Communist Party's Central Committee), Faisal al-Dalati, Leonid Melnikov, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov, Syrian Agriculture Minister Rashad Jabri, President Shukri al-Quwatli, Syrian Foreign Minister Salah al-Bitar, Nikita Khrushev, Syrian First Lady Bahira al-Dalati, Fouad al-Shayeb (director of the Syrian President's press office), Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Bulganin, Marshal Georgy Zhukov, one of the most celebrated officers in the Red Army and Minister of Defense of the USSR.

President Shukri al-Quwatli at Damascus Airport before his departure to the USSR in 1956
President Quwatli is third from right, and next to him, third from left, is Prime Minister Sabri al-Asali

The Syrian National Basketball Team at the Moscow Youth Festival in 1957
The Syrian National Basketball Team at the Moscow Youth Festival in 1957. This was the most publicized event at which Syria was represented during the early years of the Syrian-Soviet honeymoon. The Syrian team included the youth leader Fakhri al-Barudi, and the singer Fata Dimashq. Marching in the front row are Tony Mossilieh, Ayham Omary, Nizar Nashawi, Farid Hanna,Joeseph Zakar, Fuad Habash and Adham Mashnouk.

President Shukri al-Quwatli arriving in Moscow in October 1956
This was the first visit by a Syrian head of state to the USSR. Quwatli used it to drum up support for Egypt during the Suez Canal War.

President Gamal Abdul Nasser and Vice-President Akram al-Hawrani at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia in Moscow on April 28, 1958
Standing next to United Arab Republic President Gamal Abdul Nasser is his friend and ally, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushev

Defense Minister Khaled al-Azm speaking at the Kremlin in August 1957
Standing next to the ex-Syrian Prime Minister is Soviet leader Nikita Khrushev. The photo was taken during Azm's famous visit to Moscow, where he signed Syria's first long-term military treaty with the Soviet Union.