The statements of the Syrian artist, Yasser Al-Azma, sparked a wide discussion via digital networks, especially as he touched on the issue of youth migration, the reasons behind it, and the deterioration of the living situation in Syria.
In the second episode of his weekly program, "With Yasser Al-Azma", the Syrian artist spoke on his social media accounts about difficult living conditions, lack of services, economic deterioration, high prices, and the collapse of the Syrian pound.
Al-Azma had reappeared in the second half of 2020, after an absence of 7 years from the media and drama scene.
The appearance of the Syrian artist on social media, at the time, was a surprise to his fans, especially since he returned to the lights in a different style than they used to see him throughout his artistic career.
Opinions and contrast
Regarding his last episode, the opinions of activists differed between those who attacked al-Azma on the grounds that he did not reveal that the one who brought Syria to what it is today is the Syrian regime, and those who defended it.
And at a time when some saw that the artist was able to simulate the pain in his country, bloggers criticized those who objected or even defended the Syrian artist's statements on the grounds that they will not change the situation of the Syrian people, according to their publications.
#Yasser_Al-Azmeh, may God forgive you 💔💔
All this crime and killing committed by the #Bashar_al-Assad regime, which led to the asylum and displacement of ten million Syrians, I did not see it, and I saw
only the greed of merchants and the corruption of some officials!!!
..
- Yahya Hawa (@yahyahawwa) January 23, 2023
Tweeter Wassim Hala wrote, in a tweet to him, "The tenderness of the heart and the choking is with the repressed tear... (summarizes) the situation of all of us."
The artist Uday Ayman said, "The Syrian people everywhere are waiting for convincing answers to these questions from the honorable country. It is not only Professor Yasser al-Azma who asks, but the Syrian citizen with a burning heart." He added, wondering when Syria will be a true homeland for all Syrians.
#Syrian_people everywhere are
waiting for convincing answers to these questions
from the honorable sovereignty of the state in our country that is forbidden to us
. Not Professor #Yaser_Al-Azmeh, why is he
asking
? twitter.com/A5G5H8S0pp
- Oday Ayman (@oday_official) January 23, 2023
Journalist Ahmed El-Sisi considered that "most of the Syrian artists left a line of return, so they speak within the space that the regime allowed them to speak in. They highlight the suffering of the Syrians in a specific framework, while they are deaf to the main cause of it, which is the Syrian regime."
He added, "Void talk (without value) and false humanity that you are talking about, sir."
Most Syrian artists leave a line of return, so they speak within the space in which the regime allowed them to speak in the first place.
They shed light on the suffering of the Syrians in a specific framework, while they were deaf to the main cause of it, "which is the Syrian regime."
Empty talk and false humanity that you are talking about, Mr. @YaserAlazmeh https://t.co/62EaeC7XQD
- Ahmad ALsisi (@AR_alsisi) January 22, 2023
The episodes of greatness - through which he made his statements - received millions of views on platforms (Tik Tok, YouTube, Twitter) until they became the talk of public opinion.
My friends, here is the new episode https://t.co/yvlAGJj4T3# Yasir_al-Azma pic.twitter.com/mBGvf7yb2W
- Yaser Alazmeh, Yasser Al-Azmeh (@YaserAlazmeh) January 21, 2023
Despair and exacerbation of anxiety
Al-Azmeh said that the most prominent reasons for people's emigration are "despair, exacerbation of anxiety, lack of hope for a secure future, disgust with the surrounding present, and economic depression that no official has been able to deal with."
Al-Azma explained in the video, "It is true that I live outside the country, but I visit it every once in a while." "Gloomy and bleak (sad)".
My...
- Yaser Alazmeh, Yasser Al-Azmeh (@YaserAlazmeh) January 22, 2023
Since the beginning of the popular movement in Syria in 2011 against the Syrian regime, Al-Azma has not taken a decisive stance on this prominent event in the Syrian scene, and the audience has formed a state of astonishment and a question about the position of an artist who has long criticized corruption and injustice of rulers in the famous drama series "Mirrors".
Although the seventy-year-old artist did not support the Syrian revolution and peaceful demonstrations, at the same time he did not show support for the Syrian regime's authority.
Away from his political position, the artist Yasser Al-Azma - who was born in Damascus in 1942 - occupies a prominent position in Syrian drama and theater, and his name was associated with the famous drama series "Mirrors", which accompanied the months of Ramadan and achieved unparalleled fame, since its first episodes began in 1984 and the last of them was in 2013.
Al-Azma began his artistic career from the theater in 1963, when he participated in the play "Sheikh of the Hypocrites" based on a play by the English poet and actor Ben Johnson.
Al-Azma shone in the plays “Ghorba” and “Dayat Tishreen” in the seventies of the last century, in participation with the artists Duraid Lahham, Nihad Qala’i and Omar Hajjo, which were written by the famous writer Muhammad Al-Maghout.
Al-Azma's last dramatic appearance on the small screen was in Maraya 2013.