Asaad should work with opposition to create real national Government.read more

Antakya, Turkey - As he discusses the war in
Syria, Gunes speaks rapidly, his brow creased
into a scowl.
A Turkish Alawite who runs a quaint, bustling
cafe in the old city of Antakya, he lambasts the
international community for portraying Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad as a "monster".
"The real monsters are fighting in his land. What
do you expect him to do?" Gunes told Al Jazeera,
speaking under a pseudonym for fear of
retribution.
"They say Assad bombed and massacred his
people, but it's not true ... Yes, he's bombing
Aleppo, but he's bombing the terror groups who
hide behind innocent people and use them as
human shields," he said. "If you don't bomb
them, they will kill more soldiers."
OPINION: Inside Bashar al-Assad's mind
After Syria's civil war erupted more than five
years ago, members of Antakya's Alawite
community poured into the streets to voice their
support for the Assad regime, rejecting global
calls for the Syrian president to step aside amid
a massive public uprising.
The city, with a population of more than 200,000
people, is located in the Turkish province of
Hatay, about 150km north of Syria's Qardaha,
home to the Assad dynasty. The Assads also
belong to the Alawite sect of Shia Islam. Most of
Turkey's Alawites, estimated to number around
one million, live in Hatay - and many say they
feel they have been marginalised within Turkish
society.
“
I've heard some Syrians say we don't just need
one Assad - we need 100 Assads to fight this. ”
Selcuk, 35-year-old Alawite from Antakya
As the war in Syria grinds on, with Ankara
backing Syrian rebel fighters, the Assad regime
and its Russian allies have been accused of
mounting atrocities and violations of international
law . But while residents say the prevalence of
pro-regime demonstrations in Antakya has
dwindled in the years since 2011, many members
of the Alawite community privately maintain their
support for Assad.
"In Syria before, healthcare, education - these
were free, and now people cannot access any
services. The opposition terrorists have
destroyed everything," said Selcuk, a 35-year-old
Alawite from Antakya who would not provide his
last name for fear of retribution.
"I've heard some Syrians say we don't just need
one Assad - we need 100 Assads to fight this,"
Selcuk told Al Jazeera.
'People are used to hearing about the war in
Syria ... They are simply living with it,' one local
journalist said [Megan O'Toole/Al Jazeera]
The residents of Hatay who remain in the pro-
Assad camp are typically bound by ethno-
religious loyalties or by the fact that they still
have family members in regime-held areas of
Syria, local journalist Akin Bodur told Al Jazeera.
Many different religions, cultures and
nationalities - from Turkmens, to Christians, to
Sunni and Shia Arabs - populate the Hatay
region, he said, noting that activism on both
sides has been on the downturn in recent
months. There have been just a handful of pro or
anti-Assad protests in 2016, compared with
dozens in years past, he said.
To Mufeed Haroon Khattab, a Syrian resident of
Antakya, the notion of continuing support for
Assad at any level is incomprehensible [Megan
O'Toole/Al Jazeera]
"People are used to hearing about the war in
Syria ... They are simply living with it," Bodur
said, noting that for the pro-Assad camp
particularly, "it may be that Russia's involvement
started to affect the level of support. Assad's
supporters prefer to remain silent [since] they
don't want to be seen as supporting an
international war."
Unver Tumer, a 30-year-old Turkish Arab who
works in Antakya's medical industry, noted that
while Alawites in the area tend to support Assad,
people of other backgrounds are more likely to
sympathise with the moderate Syrian opposition.
"I believe that no president should stay for more
than two terms … Assad should work with the
opposition to create a real, national government
for the country," he told Al Jazeera.
The last public demonstration of support for
Assad that Tumer could recall took place months
ago, and drew just a few dozen people. But to
Mufeed Haroon Khattab, a 64-year-old who fled
to Antakya from the western Syrian city of Hama
in 2012, the notion of continuing support for
Assad at any level is incomprehensible.
"He is a criminal and a dictator who has
massacred Syrians," Khattab told Al Jazeera,
noting that when he first arrived in Antakya four
years ago, some Turkish Alawites lashed out at
him, saying: "You say you want freedom, but you
sold out your homeland to the West."
“
[Assad] is a criminal and a dictator who has
massacred Syrians.”
Mufeed Haroon Khattab, Syrian refugee in
Antakya
As hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees
have flowed into Hatay over the years, however,
the political climate has improved, he said. "They
have realised it is in their interests to treat us
well," Khattab surmised.
According to Hakan Mertcan, an associate
professor at Mersin University with expertise on
Turkey's Alawites, the community's support for
Assad is unlikely to falter in the months and
years ahead, as the sect has felt increasingly
targeted by and isolated from Syria's opposition
movement.
"Nobody can convince the Alawites that [Syrian
rebels] will bring democracy," Mertcan told Al
Jazeera, noting that Alawites continue to view
Assad "as the assurance symbol of Syrian unity,
multiculturalism [and] secular life".
READ MORE: Syrian civil war - Running from a
nightmare
Back inside a breezy restaurant in a quiet
residential area of Antakya, Selcuk described the
Syrian war as a "financial game" in which a
disorganised array of armed fighters - many non-
Syrian - have been angling to seize power.
"If it was a real political movement, [Assad]
would have stepped aside by now. But it's not.
We can't call a bunch of people killing and
beheading others a revolution," he said, accusing
Western powers of pushing for regime change in
Syria in order to bolster their own economic
interests in the country.