What Triggered the Fall of Bashar al-Assad, Whose Family Ruled Syria for 50 Years? The streets of Syria’s Damascus echoed with celebrations after allied rebel forces took the capital, ending the al-Assad family’s 50 years of iron fist rule. The former ophthalmologists’, President Bashar al-Assad's 14-year-regime fell in 12 days and he was forced to flee and seek asylum in Russia. While the surprise offensive marked a drastic turn in the Syrian Civil War, Bashar’s fall did not happen overnight. I