Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed that the situation in Syria is similar to a global war against the country, and that the only available option is to defeat terrorism, noting that using terrorists as a political card is “immoral.”
During an interview with the Portuguese channel RTP TV, President Assad made it clear that “fighting terrorism in Syria does not only serve Syria or the Syrian people, but also the Middle East and Europe, which is something unrecognized by many West officials, or they even do not admit it.
Assad said that the eastern part of Aleppo province has been under terrorists’ occupation since three years, and they have been using its residents as human shields.
“We have two tasks. The first is to fight those terrorists to liberate the area and free its citizens, and in the same time to find a way to evacuate it from terrorists,” he said, elaborating: “If they [the terrorist groups] accept what can be called ‘a reconciliation option’, i.e. to hand over their weapons in exchange for permission or to leave the area.”
Touching on Hezbollah participation in the war on terrorism in Syria, President Assad said “they are here because they can provide an essential and significant assistance, because the war we are engaged in is similar to a global war,” stressing that “Syria alone cannot fight such a kind of wars if it weren’t for the help of friends. That’s why their [Hezbollah fighters] presence and support was very essential.
Syrian President, however, highlighted that the Russian support was “very important, as well as Hezbollah’s. All of them are important, and each of them made significant achievements against terrorists in Syria. Thus it is difficult to compare their importance.”
Commenting on remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan about Turkey’s interests outside the geographical borders of his country, mainly in Syria’s Aleppo and Iraq’s Mosul, President Assad said: “You’re talking about sick person; he’s megalomaniac President, he is not stable. He lives during the Ottoman era, he doesn’t live in the current time. He’s out of touch with the reality,” calling the Turkish presence in Syria “invasion.”
“It’s our right to defend it; it is invasion. It’s our right to defend our country against any kind of invasion. But let’s be realistic, every terrorist came to Syria, he came through Turkey with the support of Erdogan. So, fighting those terrorists is like fighting the army of Erdogan, not the Turkish army, the army of Erdogan,” he said.
Answering a question about the new UN Secretary General Antonio who said that peace in Syria would be his priority, Assad expressed readiness to cooperate taking into account the interest of Syria and the Syrian people, stating that: “Everybody knows that the United Nations is not the Secretary-General; he has an important position, but the United Nations is the states within this organization, and to be frank, most of the people say only the five permanent members; this is the United Nations because they have the veto, they can do whatever they want and they can refuse whatever they want.”
“If you ask me “what do you expect from such a new official in that important position,” I would say I need two things: the first one is to be objective in every statement he could make regarding any conflict around the world, including Syria. The second one, which is related and complimentary with the first one, is not to turn his office into a part or branch of the State Department of the United States,” he added.
Turning to the US presidential elections, President Assad said he does not have a lot of expectations of Donald J. Trump “because the American administration is not only about the President; it’s about different powers within this administration, the different lobbies that they are going to influence any President.”
“We have to wait and see when he embarks his new mission, let’s say, or position within this administration as President in two months’ time. But we always say we have wishful thinking that the Unites States would be unbiased, respect the international law, doesn’t interfere in other countries around the world, and of course to stop supporting terrorists in Syria,” the Syrian President stated.
Source: Al-Manar Website
