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Mazen Al-Tarazi

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Mazen Al Tarazi
مازن سمير الترزي
Born
Mazen Samir Tarazi

1962 (age 61–62)
Saidnaya, Syria
NationalitySyrian
CitizenshipSyria - Canada
Known for
  • Al-Hadaf Magazine
  • Marota City
  • Alwataniya Air (National Airline Company LLC, Syria)

Mazen Samir Al-Tarazi (Arabic: مازن الترزي; born 1962), also known as Mazen Al Tarazi and Mazin Al Tarazi, is a Syrian-Canadian businessman with close ties to the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. He has significant activities in the media sector in Kuwait. He is the founder and CEO of Marketing Group for Advertising, Publishing and Distribution and the Dar al-Hadaf Newspaper Company, which he founded with Kuwaiti businessman Ahmed Al-Jarallah. Until December 2022, he was a board member of Dar Al Seyassah Company for Printing, Publishing and Distribution WLL in Kuwait, the publisher of the Arab Times and Al-Seyassah newspapers. He is sanctioned by the United Kingdom and EU for his material support to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.[1][2]

Background

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Al-Tarazi was born Mazen Samir Tarazi was born in Damascus in 1962, and he started his career in Kuwait as a printing press worker at Al Anba and Al Rai newspapers, then as a manager at Al Waseet classified advertising paper owned by Syrian businessman Bashar Kiwan. He then became a manager at Al-Seyassah. He later partnered with the owner of Al-Seyassah, Kuwaiti businessman Ahmed Al-Jarallah, to launch weekly magazine Al-Hadaf operating under Dar al-Hadaf Newspaper Company.[3][4][5] He was named in the Panama Papers as the sole owner of First Kingston Investments Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands.[6] He is partner in Al-Waseet classifieds paper in Jordan with Syrian-French businessman Bashar Kiwan[7]

Al-Tarazi developed close ties to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. He was relatively unknown in Syria until 2014, when he provided a private plane to transport Syrians from Kuwait to Syria to vote for Bashar al-Assad in presidential elections. In 2015, he acquired the Sheraton Ma'aret Sednaya Hotel & Resort. In 2017, his company National Airline Company LLC was granted a license for Syria's second private airline, Alwataniya Air.[8][9][10]

Al-Tarazi partnered with Damascus Governorate and Damascus Cham Private Joint Stock Company in reconstructing a new city, Marota City, in the Basateen al-Razi area in the Mezzeh district of Damascus, in two projects. The first is a $250m, 120,000 sqm shopping mall and six other buildings, and the second are give properties worth $70m.[10][11]

Controversies

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Sanctions

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In 2019, Al-Tarazi was sanctioned by the European Union.[12] In 2020, he was sanctioned by the United Kingdom "benefitting from and/or supporting the Syrian regime."[13] In 2021, the EU General Court dismissed an application by Mazen Al Tarazi to annul his inclusion in the Syria sanctions list.[1][14]

Arrest in Kuwait

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ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT
@arabtimeskuwait
 Twitter logo, a stylized blue bird

Severance of Relationship with Mazen Al Tarazi, a #Syrian national who also holds #Canadian citizenship

6 December 2022[15]

In March 2019, Kuwaiti authorities arrested Al-Tarazi and four employees of Al-Hadaf Magazine after the magazine's headquarters were raided, reportedly on charges of money laundering and publishing without a license.[16] In March 2019, the Arab Times, owned by Al-Tarazi's business partner, Ahmed Al-Jarallah, published an article describing the allegations of money laundering against of Al-Tarazi as "concocted lies, as several bloggers have raised unfounded allegations in the past against notable personalities in the country, which clearly damaged their reputations and defamed their personalities".[17] In December 2022, Al-Jarallah released a statement in his newspaper, the Arab Times announcing his "severance of any relationship with the so-called Mazen Al Tarazi".[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b KC, Maya Lester (2021-04-30). "EU Court upholds listing of a Syrian businessman". EU Sanctions. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  2. ^ "Mazen Al Tarzi | Kuwait | Decypha - Don't miss any updates from Decypha. Get your account today to stay up-to-date with your interest!". www.decypha.com. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  3. ^ Simeon Djankov, Caralee McLiesh, Tatiana Nenova, Andrei Shleifer. (October 2003). "Who Owns The Media?" Journal of Law and Economics, XLVI(2). Media data country files.
  4. ^ Arab Press Network: Kuwait Archived August 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Seale, Patrick. Abu Nidal: a gun for hire. Random House, 1992. p. 130
  6. ^ "MAZIN AL-TARAZI | ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database". offshoreleaks.icij.org. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  7. ^ "Significant Economic Cooperation Between The Syrian Regime and Iran During 2018-19". omranstudies.org. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  8. ^ Al-Lababidi, Mahmoud (April 2019). "Damascus Businessmen: The Phantoms of Marota City" (PDF). European University Institute, Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria (WPCS).
  9. ^ "Syrian businessman seeks to establish own airline". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  10. ^ a b Valeria Talbot (2019). Rebuilding Syria: The Middle East's Next Power Game?. Eugenio Dacrema. OAPEN: Ledizioni. p. 43. ISBN 978-88-5526-058-9. OCLC 1229501937.
  11. ^ Vignal, Leïla (2021). War-torn: the unmaking of Syria, 2011-2021. London. ISBN 978-1-78738-579-5. OCLC 1273337356.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ "Syria is ready to court investors, but Europe wants to prevent that". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  13. ^ Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, HM Treasury -- CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1093776/syria.pdf
  14. ^ "CURIA - List of results". curia.europa.eu. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  15. ^ ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT [@arabtimeskuwait] (6 December 2022). "Severance of Relationship with Mazen Al Tarazi, a #Syrian national who also holds #Canadian citizenship" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "Syrian businessman linked to Bashar Al Assad arrested in Kuwait". AFP. 19 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Mazen Al-Tarazi set free without bail". ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT NEWS. 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  18. ^ "Severance of Relationship with Mazen Al Tarazi". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
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