- He was born in 1929 in the city of Homs.
- He studied medicine at Damascus University, from which he graduated in 1955.
- From his youth, he joined the Baath Party and was at the head of the party’s organization at Damascus University during the 1950s.
- He led many student movements and demonstrations during the period of the coups, and was imprisoned in 1952 during the rule of Colonel Adib al-Shishakli, where he spent a whole year, during which he was exiled to Tadmur Desert Prison and subjected to severe torture.
- He participated as a volunteer in the Algerian revolution in 1958 at the head of a group of Syrian doctors.
- He returned to his hometown of Homs to practice his profession as a surgeon at the National Hospital.
- He was appointed Minister of Interior after the Baath Party came to power in March 1963.
- He became deputy prime minister in 1964.
- He became a member of the State Presidency Council in 1965.
- He became head of state and was elected secretary-general of the Baath Party after the February 1966 coup that ousted President Amin al-Hafez.
- His authority was limited as the real power was in the hands of Salah Jadid, assistant secretary general of the Baath Party.
- He served as prime minister in 1968, as well as party general secretary and head of state.
- It was during his reign that the agreement to construct the Euphrates Dam was signed with the Soviet government, and its implementation began during his reign as well.
- During his reign, Syria, along with Egypt and Jordan, lost the 1967 war and the Golan Heights was occupied.
- After the war, he called for a broad national front and openness to other political forces, but he and Assistant Secretary-General Salah Jadid fell out with then-Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad, and the dispute reached its peak during the Black September events in Jordan.
- He sent Syrian troops to support the Palestinians against what they were facing in Jordan, and there was a dispute over the dispatch of those troops.
- He married Mrs. Salma al-Hassibi and has two children: Mrs. Aya Atassi and opposition writer Mohammed Ali Atassi.
- He resigned from all his positions in October 1970 to protest the military’s interference in politics and the actions of Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of then Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad.
- Following this resignation, the three key positions in the state were emptied. The Tenth Extraordinary Party Congress was called, which decided to dismiss both Hafez al-Assad and Chief of Staff Mustafa Tlass from their posts. The latter then staged a military coup called the Corrective Movement on November 16, 1970, removing him and Salah Jadid from their posts and placing them in Mezzeh Military Prison.
- He spent 22 years in prison in a cramped cell without trial and eventually developed cancer, for which the authorities did not provide proper treatment.
- He was admitted to Tishreen Military Hospital for four months before he was released after the disease spread in his body and there was no hope for his recovery.
- Immediately after his release, he traveled to Paris for medical treatment, but time ran out and he died a week after his arrival on December 2, 1992.
- He was buried in his hometown of Homs with a majestic funeral.
We at Syrian Future Movement, as we recall the memory of the founding statesmen of Syria, we recall one of Syria’s influential men, and one of the symbols of the first Syrian state that contributed to influencing its structure, “Noureddine Atassi” within a sequential file that we present to you to include the symbols and flags of the Syrian state, in our desire to link our contemporary present to a solid past and historical stations, with the hope that we revive in our people the need to build and create statesmen par excellence. We hope to revive in our people the need to build and create statesmen par excellence, learn from their experiences, overcome their negatives, build on their history, preserve the homeland, safeguard the gains, and restore the Syrian state to its glory after years of injustice, tyranny, and corruption
