Mehmed Ali Bey

Mehmed Ali Bey, later known as Muhammad Ali al-Abid, was born in Damascus in 1867 into a wealthy family closely connected to the Ottoman palace. His father, Ahmad Izzat al-Abid, served Abdülhamid II. Educated in Istanbul and Paris, Mehmed Ali entered Ottoman service and worked as a legal adviser before his Washington appointment. His diplomatic career preceded his Syrian presidency. ^{1, 2}

The Ottoman government sent him to Washington in 1907. The Turkish mission’s roster dates his service from November 1907 to August 1908. His appointment belonged to the final period of Abdülhamid’s rule, and the constitutional revolution brought his recall in August 1908. ^{3, 4, 2}

After returning to Damascus in 1919, al-Abid entered politics under the French Mandate. A Syrian Federation decree of 25 August 1922 appointed him director of finance. Parliament elected him president on 11 June 1932. In his inaugural address he promised to stand above parties, reconcile political differences, and develop the country’s economy and education, while explicitly accepting cooperation with France. ^{1, 5, 6}

His presidency ended on 21 December 1936. In his resignation message to the newly elected parliament, he welcomed the recent treaty negotiations with France and the electoral mandate of the succeeding leadership, presenting his departure as a transfer of responsibility at a new political stage. He died in 1939. ^{7, 1}