海角大神

In a ramshackle market in Turkey's Hatay Province, Masrura聽sells ceramic cups and rugs bearing the聽stoic face of聽Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Her clients, she says, mirror the political divide of neighboring Syria.

鈥淪ome Syrians buy the carpets to put it on the bathroom floor and stomp on Assad鈥檚 face, while others hang it up on their wall with pride to soothe their souls,鈥� she says.

Events in Syria have long had a ripple effect in Hatay,聽with its mix of Turkish Sunnis, 海角大神s, and Alawites, a Shiite sect to which Assad belongs. Families here have relatives on both sides of the Syrian conflict,聽and the province's population has swelled with refugees.

Once a strong commercial ally of Damascus, Ankara has turned its back on the Assad regime, hosting the opposition Syrian National Coalition and largely turning a blind eye to rebels operating聽along Turkey鈥檚 porous border with Syria.

In this mountainous area streaming with anti-Assad activists, rebels, and their relatives, Syrians who support Assad are outnumbered. They keep a low profile, settling in pro-regime areas like the Alawite town of Harbiye. The mood is tense as Assad seeks a third term in today's widely criticized presidential election. 聽聽

鈥淪yrians are scared.聽If they speak in favor of the regime, there could be reprisals from the opposition, and vice versa,鈥� says聽Suleyman Ezzer, a Turk who rents out apartments聽in Harbiye to Syrians.聽

Concerned that one wrong word could put them in danger,聽Syrians living in the town tend to keep their doors locked and聽stay quiet about their political views. But two young women sitting at an outdoor cafe were keen to be heard.

鈥淓ven if rebels block the roads and hit polling stations so that people can鈥檛 vote, Assad will win because everyone loves him,鈥� says Maryam Yahya, a young hairdresser from Aleppo who followed her husband to Turkey in search of work.

Her friend Nasreen Sakit introduces herself as a Sunni Muslim whose father is serving in the聽Syrian Air Force. 聽She believes that Assad, [a member of the Shiite Alawite sect,] is the only one who can prevent the country from collapsing along sectarian lines.

While 鈥渢errorists fight for freedom and kill in the name of Islam,鈥� Ms. Sakit says, 鈥淎ssad is defending the nation. Anyone in his place would have done far worse in this situation. His father (Hafez) would have killed everyone. Bashar showed mercy.鈥�

Assad the protector

Like the Assad clan, which has been in power for more than four decades, the two women frame the conflict as an existential war pitting a secular regime against hardline extremists who want to veil women, impose Islamic law, and slaughter minorities.聽

When faced with mostly peaceful antigovernment protests in March 2011, Assad unleashed a brutal crackdown, claiming his country was the target of a foreign conspiracy. Today, that narrative has been bolstered聽by an influx of foreign jihadists, some backed by Sunni powers.聽

Yessay, an elderly 海角大神 Armenian shepherd from Kassab, Syria, stands with the Assad regime even though he was detained and beaten by its security services five times.

At least under Assad, 海角大神s worshipped freely, he says. He warns this won鈥檛 be the case if Syria is overrun by 鈥淚slamists with beards so long and thick that they look like buffalos. Better the devil you know, than the devil you don鈥檛.鈥澛�

Disgruntled supporters

While the West and the Syrian opposition see today's election as a farce, Assad鈥檚 supporters say聽he is giving democracy a genuine chance. No one doubts that he will be victorious at the polls.

Asaad Arab and his wife Fatma, who live in a cramped apartment with their seven children, say they would return to their home in Syria and vote for Assad if the border wasn't controlled by聽鈥渢errorists.鈥�

Although they take pride in their relatives serving in the Syrian Army, they long for the comforts of peacetime in Syria: security, quiet nights without bombs, and uninterrupted access to water and electricity.

鈥淲e hope elections help calm things down and that we can go home,鈥� says Mr. Arab.

Mrs. Arab doesn鈥檛 mince her words. 鈥淲e were okay under Assad, we loved him and all that.聽 But his army dropped barrel bombs on us. Assad should have at least offered us safe zones in his war against terrorists,鈥� she says.