In his first media appearance... Bassem Yakhour will return to Syria under these conditions

In his first appearance after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, artist Bassem Yakhour appeared in an interview in which he spoke about the events that the country witnessed and revealed his point of view.

Bassem Yakhour's first appearance after the fall of the Assad regime

Bassem Yakhour spoke on the “Podcast with Nayla” program on “Al-Nahar” channel about the possibility of his return to Syria, saying that this is linked to the presence of appropriate conditions: “As a Syrian citizen, I will return to Syria only if the appropriate conditions are available, but the current situation does not encourage a return, due to the state of chaos and the lack of guarantees to avoid negative or illogical reactions.”

Changing the ruling did not lead to changes.

Yakhour added that the change of government in Syria did not lead to radical changes in essence, as some negative practices still continue, and he commented: “There are many phenomena that have been classified as individual cases, such as the brutal or negative treatment that we witnessed, and this brings back to my memory some of the events that occurred at the beginning of the Syrian crisis.”

His opinion on the term “coiling”

Regarding the term “takwee’a” which is used to refer to people who changed their positions from supporting the Assad regime to celebrating its fall, Bassem said: “I do not consider myself included in the case of takwee’a, because I did not benefit from my previous position despite all the rumors that were said. I was expressing my personal convictions even if they were in favor of the regime at the time. However, I was subjected to bullying and death threats because of my positions.”

Yakhour criticized the use of this term, describing it as a form of bullying, saying: “This term mocks people who moved from supporting the regime to opposing it or rejoicing at its fall, but the truth is that this approach represents an insult to the entire Syrian people, not just artists.”

How did supporting the Assad regime affect him?

Regarding his previous support for the regime and whether it affected his professional career, Yakhour said: “If I had been on the side of the opposition, I would have had much better professional opportunities, but I stuck to my convictions and expressed my opinion honestly, despite knowing that this would affect my work and my spread.”

Yakhour stressed the importance of constructive dialogue away from bullying and exclusion, pointing out that what the Syrian people have experienced over the past years cannot be reduced to individual positions or sarcastic terms.