Syria Drops Anti-Turkish References as Al-Sharaa Overhauls History Curriculum

Syria has removed negative references to the Ottoman Empire from its school textbooks, dropping the "Great Arab Revolt" designation and the "Butcher" epithet previously attached to Ottoman commander Cemal Pasha as part of a broader revision of the country's history curriculum.

The changes under President Ahmad al-Sharaa recast the 1916–1918 Arab uprising as a rebellion against the Ottoman state, while revising the account of the 1916 executions of Arab figures in Damascus and Beirut to emphasize allegations of cooperation with Britain and France.

The revisions were documented in an October 19 report by education monitoring organization IMPACT-se, which examined 130 textbooks used during the 2025–26 academic year and compared them primarily with editions published under the Assad government in 2017–18.

Great Arab Revolt Replaced With Rebellion

The revised Grade 12 history textbook no longer uses the term “Great Arab Revolt” to describe the 1916–1918 uprising led by Sharif Hussein during the Ottoman period.

The event is now described as the rebellion movement of Hussein bin Ali.

The earlier textbook characterized the uprising as a campaign for Arab independence, stating that its objective was "to liberate the Arab lands from the Ottoman occupation and the rule of the Unionist Turks (1908–1918)."

The new edition replaces that account with a narrower description of Hussein's rebellion and its objective "to break the Arab lands from the Ottoman State."

The revision also removes language identifying the uprising as a collective Arab liberation movement.

His cooperation with the Allied powers during the war also receives greater attention.

The treatment of the Anglo-French Declaration of November 7, 1918, has similarly been revised.

The earlier textbook referred to the liberation of populations from alleged Turkish injustices, while the new edition describes the declared objective as expelling Ottoman forces from the region and establishing national governments.

Cemal Pasha's 'Butcher' Epithet Removed

The revised curriculum also changes how Ahmed Cemal Pasha, an Ottoman official in the Levant during the First World War, is portrayed.

Previous Syrian textbooks referred to him as "Djemal Pasha the Butcher" over the execution of Arab figures in Damascus and Beirut on May 6, 1916, portraying those executed as defenders of Arab national identity and rights.

The new edition removes the epithet and describes those executed as "conspirators among them who were collaborating with Britain and France."

While the executions remain in the textbook, the revised account places greater emphasis on cooperation with foreign powers and identifies the executions as a factor that accelerated Sharif Hussein's rebellion.

'Ottoman Occupation' Replaced With 'Ottoman Rule'

The textbook changes follow directives issued by Syria's Ministry of Education in January 2025, shortly after the collapse of the Assad government.

The ministry instructed editors to replace references to "Ottoman occupation" with terms such as "Ottoman rule" or "Ottoman administration."

The new editions reflect a shift away from portraying the Ottoman period primarily through the lens of Arab nationalist opposition.

Instead, greater emphasis is placed on the Ottoman state's political and Islamic character and the historical circumstances surrounding its dissolution.

According to IMPACT-se, many of the January directives were implemented in the 2025–26 curriculum, although the changes were not applied uniformly across all textbooks.

Much of the existing educational material was retained and selectively revised rather than replaced with entirely new books.

Changes Coincide With Closer Relations With Türkiye

The revisions to Ottoman history come amid strengthening relations between Damascus and Ankara following the change of government in Syria.

The new curriculum removes several descriptions of Ottoman rule that had reflected the Arab nationalist orientation of previous Syrian governments.

The changes mark a departure from educational narratives that had emphasized confrontation between Arab nationalism and Ottoman authority.

Rather than removing the Arab uprising or the 1916 executions from the historical record, the curriculum changes how these events are described and interpreted.