Uğur Ümit Üngör
Uğur Ümit Üngör is professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at the University of Amsterdam and the NIOD Institute in Amsterdam. His main area of interest is the history and sociology of mass violence, with a particular focus on the modern and contemporary Middle East. He has published books and articles on various aspects and cases of mass violence, including “Syrian Gulag: Inside Assad’s Prison System” (I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023) and “Paramilitarism: Mass Violence in the Shadow of the State” (Oxford University Press, 2020).
Latest from Uğur Ümit Üngör
How a Massacre of Nearly 300 in Syria Was Revealed
A two-year investigation based on leaked videos, open-source intelligence and exhaustive interviews with Assad regime intelligence officers who committed a massacre while filming themselves reveals the inner workings of Assad’s systematic and frequent massacres of civilians as an underreported tactic during Syria’s 11-year war.
The Specter of Sectarian Violence in Syria
Alawite “warrior-sheikhs” are an important but overlooked feature of the Syrian conflict. Col. Ali Khizam was one such figure, fueled by sectarianism and fierce loyalty to the Assad regime. He was eulogized on social media, but interviews with his brother and other witnesses show a ruthlessness that he justified through appeals to sectarian identity and history.