On Monday, the Kremlin commented on reports published by Turkish media, denying that Asma al-Assad, the wife of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had filed for divorce and left Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also denied Turkish media reports that restrictions had been imposed on Assad's travel and the freezing of his real estate assets.
When asked if these reports were true, Peskov replied: “No, they do not correspond to reality.”
Turkish and Arab media reported Sunday that Asma al-Assad had filed for divorce in Russia, where the Assad family was granted asylum this month after the opposition took control of Damascus following a lightning breakthrough.
Asma al-Assad's name was associated with the reign of her husband, Bashar, who ruled Syria for 24 years, but her fate, after she and her family fled Damascus, became the subject of many questions, especially after the developments from Great Britain. on whose soil she spent half her life.
The forced exile represents the final blow to the reputation of Asma al-Assad, who was once seen as an asset of the Syrian regime following her marriage to Bashar al-Assad in 2000, who succeeded her father, Hafez al-Assad , as president of the country.
In March 2012, Asma al-Assad's assets were frozen, as part of the European sanctions that London has maintained despite its exit from the European Union, justifying itself by asserting that she “benefits from the Syrian regime to which she is linked”.
In response to a question asked a few hours after Assad's fall, before the House of Commons, the position of British Foreign Secretary David Lammy was categorical.
Lamy said: “In recent days I have seen reports circulating that Asma al-Assad, who has British nationality, is trying to come to our country. I confirm that she is subject to sanctions and that she is not welcome.
He added: “I will do my best to ensure that no member of this family resides in the UK.”
Prior to this, a senior Labor government official, Pat McFadden, explained that the authorities “had made no contact and received no requests for Assad's wife to come to the UK”.
Asma, who belongs to the Sunni sect while her husband comes from the Alawite sect, embodied, at the start of her marriage to Assad, a symbol of modernity, leading to a radical change in the role of the Syrian First Lady, after Anisa , Bashar al-Assad's mother stayed away when her husband was president.
The couple had three children, two boys and a girl. Their eldest son recently graduated from Moscow University with a degree in mathematics.
Last May, the Syrian presidency announced that Asmaa al-Assad was suffering from leukemia after being treated for breast cancer between 2018 and 2019.
Her detractors accuse her of illicit enrichment thanks to the charitable organization “Syrian Trust for Development” which she founded, and which received the majority of funding received from abroad.
She and her husband controlled much of the Syrian economy using pseudonyms, according to the Syria Report news site.
In 2020, US sanctions were imposed on her, her parents and two brothers, and the US Secretary of State at the time considered her “one of the biggest beneficiaries of the war in Syria “.
