"I ask the Turkish people: what is your issue
with Syria?" President Assad
President Assad Interview - Russia 24 TV
"Ask ourselves, why are Turkish soldiers being
killed in Syria? What is the cause they are fighting
for? What is the dispute?"
March 05, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
Damascus, SANA-President Bashar al-Assad affirmed
that Head of the Turkish regime, Erdogan, fights
beside terrorists out of his brotherhood ideology,
so even Erdogan himself is unable to tell the Turks
why he is sending his army to fight in Syria. The
single reason is the Muslim Brotherhood and it has
nothing to do with Turkish national interests.
The President added
in an interview given to Russia 24 TV that in a
militarily view, the priority now is Idlib, this is
why we see Erdogan using all his force and no doubt
under American directives. This is because by
liberating Idlib we will be able to move towards
liberating the eastern regions.
Following is the full
text of the interview;
Journalist:
Hello! This is “International Review” with
Yevgeny Primakov. Today, we are in Damascus, in our
temporary studio. His Excellency, President Bashar
al-Assad, is not our guest in the studio; rather, we
are his guests. Mr. President, thank you very much
for receiving us and giving us the time to conduct
this interview. We are happy to be with you and to
see that you are in a good health in these difficult
circumstances.
President Assad:
You are welcome. I am very happy to receive a
Russian national television station.
Question 1:
Thank you very much Mr. President. Clearly, the
most important topic now, besides the war on
terrorism that your country is waging, are the
events in the Idlib governorate, and the danger of
confrontation between the Syrian Arab Republic and
Turkey. The Turkish forces are directly supporting
what is called “the opposition,” although we see in
their ranks elements which belong to terrorist
organizations, which are affiliated to Al Qaeda and
other organizations. Turkish troops are also taking
part in attacks against Syrian forces. The question
is: what has changed in the relations between you
and Erdogan, between Syria and Turkey? Before 2011,
Erdogan used to call you “brother,” and your two
families were friends. What has changed and pushed
things to where they are now?
President Assad:
The core of the issue is American policy. At a
point in time, the United States decided that
secular governments in the region were no longer
able to implement the plans and roles designated to
them; of course, I am referring to the countries
which were allies of the United States and not those
like Syria which are not. They decided to replace
these regimes with Muslim Brotherhood regimes that
use religion to lead the public.
In doing this, things
would become easier for American plans and Western
plans in general. This process of “replacement”
started with the so-called Arab Spring. Of course,
at the time, the only Muslim Brotherhood-led country
in the region was Turkey, through Erdogan himself
and his Brotherhood affiliation. Prior to this, our
relations with them were good in both the political
and economic fields; we even had security and
military cooperation. There were no problems at all
between Syria and Turkey. We didn’t do anything
against them and we didn’t support any forces
hostile to them. We believed them to be neighbours
and brothers. But Erdogan’s Muslim Brotherhood
affiliation is much stronger than all of this and he
returned to his original identity and built his
policies with Syria according to this ideology.
It is well-known that
the Muslim Brotherhood were the first organisation
to endorse violence and use religion to gain power.
Now, if we ask ourselves, why are Turkish soldiers
being killed in Syria? What is the cause they are
fighting for? What is the dispute? There is no
cause, even Erdogan himself is unable to tell the
Turks why he is sending his army to fight in Syria.
Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
The
single reason is the Muslim Brotherhood and
it has nothing to do with Turkish national
interests. It is related to Erdogan’s
ideology and consequently the Turkish people
have to die for this ideology. That’s why
he is unable to explain to the Turkish
people why his soldiers are being killed in
Syria.
Question 2:
Is there any hope of establishing any kind of
communication between Turkey and Syria gradually, at
least between the military and the intelligence, and
in the future, maybe, diplomatic relations?
President Assad:
During the past two years, numerous intensive
meetings took place between Russian and Turkish
officials, and despite the Turkish aggression a few
meetings were held between Syrian and Turkish
security officials. Our shared objective with the
Russians was to move Turkey away from supporting
terrorists and bring it back to its natural place.
For Syria, and for you also, Turkey is a
neighbouring country. It is natural to have sound
relations with a neighboring country; it is
unnatural under any pretext or any circumstance to
have bad relations. So, as to your question, is it
possible? Of course it is, but we can’t achieve
this outcome while Erdogan continues to support the
terrorists. He has to stop supporting terrorism, at
which point things can return to normal because
there is no hostility between the two peoples. The
hostility is caused by political actions or policies
based on vested interests. On the level of the
Syrian nation and the Turkish nation, there are
neither differences nor conflicts of interests. So,
yes, these relations should return to normal.
Question 3:
Is this your message to the Turkish people, that
there is no hostility against them? Have I
understood you correctly?
President Assad:
Of course, we used to describe them as
brotherly people, even now, I ask the Turkish
people: what is your issue with Syria? What is the
issue for which a Turkish citizen deserves to die?
What is the hostile act, small or large, carried
out by Syria against Turkey during or before the
war? There is none. There are mixed marriages and
families, and daily interactions and interests
between Syria and Turkey. In Turkey, there are
groups of Syrian Arab origin and there are groups in
Syria of Turkish origin. These interactions have
existed throughout history; it is not logical that
there is a dispute between us.
Question 4:
Mr. President, I realize that I am talking to a head
of state; nevertheless, I can’t but ask about the
human dimension. This person [Erdogan] shook your
hand, was your guest, you received him, and he
called you a brother and a friend, etc.. Now, he
allows himself to say all these things. How does
that affect you emotionally?
President Assad:
I have met people who belong to the Muslim
Brotherhood from different countries. He is one of
them from Turkey, there were some from Egypt,
Palestine and others; they have all done the same
thing. They used to say nice things about Syria or
about their personal relationship with me, but when
things change, they turn against the
person. That’s how the Muslim Brotherhood are: they
have no political, social, or religious ethics. For
them, religion is not a form of good, it is
violence; this is their principle. Erdogan is a
member of the opportunistic Muslim Brotherhood and
so it is normal for him to do what he has done. The
lack of clarity and endless lying are part of their
nature.
Question 5:
The war in your country has been going on for nine
years. It is twice as long as the World War II, the
Great Patriotic War, and soon we will mark the 75th
anniversary of our victory in it, which is a very
important event for Russia. What strength does the
Syrian people store that enables them to survive and
triumph and avoid despair? What is the secret? Is
it an internal strength, or something else? Or is
it simply that you have better weapons?
President Assad:
There are several factors which should be
considered. The fact that we are a small country,
means these factors make us a strong country in this
war. First and foremost, national awareness and
public opinion. Without the widespread awareness of
the Syrian people that what is happening is the
result of a Western conspiracy against their
country, Syria might have perished or been destroyed
very quickly. This popular realization produced a
national unity despite different political leanings
or different cultural and social affiliations –
ethnic, religious or sectarian groups. This
awareness created unity with the state in
confronting terrorism; this is a very important
factor.
The second factor is
the Syrian people’s legendary capacity for
sacrifice, which we have witnessed primarily through
the Syrian Arab Army. Under normal circumstances,
one would believe that these sacrifices can only be
found in movies or novels, while in fact they were
apparent in every battle and this is what protected
the country.
In addition to the
sacrifices of the army, the people themselves
sacrificed. They have been living in extremely
difficult circumstances: continuous shelling,
sanctions and bad economic conditions.
Nevertheless, the people remained steadfast with
their country.
The third factor is
the public sector, which has played an important
role in keeping the state together. In the worst of
circumstances, salaries continued to be paid,
schools kept running and daily essential services
were provided to citizens. Bottom line services
continued to be provided so that life continues.
In addition to these
factors, there is the fact that our friends have
supported us, particularly Russia and Iran. They
have supported us politically, militarily, and
economically. All these factors together have
helped Syria remain steadfast up until now.
Question 6:
If you don’t mind, I’ll dwell on these factors for
more details, and we will start with the Syrian
society and what you have said about its diverse
culture and tolerance among its different ethnic,
cultural and religious groups. The extremist
terrorists have struck a severe blow to this Syrian
characteristic by promoting extremist demands and an
extremist ideology. Yesterday, we were in the Old
City of Damascus, and we couldn’t imagine what the
situation would be like if the black flag of the
caliphate appeared in Damascus, something which can
only be imagined with horror. To what extent is
Syria ready to rebuild itself as a multicultural
state, tolerant, secular, etc.?
President Assad:
What I’m about to say may sound
exaggerated, but by nature I speak in real terms and
do not like exaggeration. In actual fact, Syrian
society today in terms of coherence and the social
integration of its different segments, is better
than it was before the war. This is for a simple
reason: war is a very important lesson to any
society, a lesson that extremism is destructive and
that not accepting the other is dangerous. As a
result, these segments within our society came
together.
If you go to the Old
City or to any area under government control, you
will not see this problem at all. On the contrary,
as I mentioned, things are better than before. The
problem is in the areas which were outside
government control. That’s why I’m not concerned at
all in this regard, despite the attempted Western
narrative to show that the war in Syria is between
sects, which is not true. A war between sects means
that you come today to this area and find one
colour, and in another area you find another colour,
and in another place a third and a fourth colour;
this is not the case. You will see all the colours
of Syria, without exception, in the state-controlled
areas. Whereas in the terrorist-controlled areas,
they are not looking for a colour, but for parts of
one colour, which is the extremist colour. This is
because only extremists at the far end of extremism
could live with them and that is why a large number
of people fled the terrorist-controlled areas to
state-controlled areas. That is why I’m not
concerned at all in this regard. The challenge,
however, will be in the areas which were occupied by
the terrorists.
Question 7:
This raises the question of the possibility of
granting an amnesty. There are many people who were
misled by the propaganda of the terrorists and
extremists. Some of them committed crimes. Others
were members of armed groups which committed
terrorist acts. But there are those who did not
carry weapons, or carried them without killing
people. What are the grounds on which the government
can reach out to them? And can there be compromises
through which such people can be forgiven? This is a
very important moral question. And in addition to
the moral dimension, there are legal aspects as to
resolving their status and integrating them in
society, and maybe in the army as well.
President Assad:
In this type of war, amnesty must be a core element
of domestic policy. We cannot restore stability if
we do not grant amnesty for the mistakes that have
been made. From the very beginning of the war, we
have regularly enacted amnesty decrees pardoning all
those who acted against the national interest. In
the areas which were controlled by the militants, we
have conducted what we call local reconciliations
that have resulted in the state legally pardoning
individuals; all those who hand in their weapons,
receive amnesty provided that they return to their
normal civil life under the authority of the state
and the rule of law. This process has been very
successful and restored stability to a large number
of areas, and we are continuing to implement this
policy.
There are very
limited cases which cannot be granted amnesty, for
example those who committed criminal acts and
premeditatedly killed large numbers of people; most
of these are terrorist leaders. However, in terms
of the broader situation, I believe that most people
want to return to the state, because a large number
of them who carried weapons were actually forced to
do so. They had no choice: either you carry weapons
or you are killed. These people are not necessarily
extremists. They do not have a terrorist past.
They are ordinary people who were forced to carry
weapons.
Similarly, there are
those who had to take political or public positions
in the media in favour of the terrorists for the
same reasons, we know this for a fact. That’s why I
believe that most of these people do support the
state and were cooperating and communicating with us
throughout. So, I fully agree with you, we must
continue providing amnesty and we must continue with
this process in the new areas we liberate,
especially since we want most Syrians inside and
outside Syria to return to their country.
Question 8:
Now, we will talk about rebuilding the state, but
the state always consists of people. When we talk
about terrorists, we either force them to drop their
weapons or persuade them to drop them and go back to
their senses. Conversely, there are those who have
their perceptions of justice; and you certainly meet
state officials, whether in the security or police
agencies, who have to reach out and resolve the
status of those who became terrorists on the other
side. These officials might resent that and find it
difficult to accept. For instance, if I see this
individual who used to aim his weapon at me living
with me now on the same street and buying bread from
the same bakery as I do, how should I behave? What
do you say to state supporters who are not always
prepared to accept such an amnesty or such an act of
forgiveness?
President Assad:
At the beginning of the war we used to see such
cases. I recall when I passed the first amnesty
decree, many Syrians resented it not only within the
government, but also the broader public because some
may have lost a family member from the terrorism.
In the beginning, it was not easy to tell them that
we will grant amnesty in order to restore stability.
However, this was the case for the first few months
only. Today, if you ask anybody or at least those
who support the state, regardless of whether they
work in the government or not, this is now accepted
because they have seen the results. In fact, in
many cases they are the ones pushing for an amnesty
and a settlement, which helps greatly. So, there
are no longer different viewpoints, because the
facts on the ground have shown that this is the
right thing to do and that it is good for Syria.
Question 9:
As to the situation on the ground, I’ll not talk
about who controls this or that area, because the
situation on the ground is fluid and ever-changing
and should be left to the military. But it is clear
now that the state has restored large areas in
southern Idlib governorate. Here, peaceful life will
return, as happened in other areas, in Eastern
Ghouta, Deir Ezzor, and the other areas liberated
previously. What will the state do when it goes into
the liberated areas? Where will it start its work?
And what is the most important aspect to restoring
peaceful life?
President Assad:
In many of the areas we have liberated, there are no
civilians since most had left when the terrorists
arrived. The first thing we do is to restore the
infrastructure in order to enable the local
population to return. The first thing they need is
electricity, water, roads, police, municipalities,
and other services. They need all these service
providers; this is the first challenge. The second,
which is equally important, is rebuilding schools so
that they are able to receive students. If the
infrastructure is available and I can’t send my
children to school, what’s the point, it means I
can’t go back to this area. So, schools and health
services are fundamental after the exit of
terrorists and the restoration of security. Later,
of course, we engage with the local community to
identify who was involved with the terrorists
through various actions. As I mentioned earlier,
this is an important step towards reconciliation and
resolving the status of these people in order to
restore normal life to the city.
Question 10:
What are the difficulties which emerge during this
process? And are there sleeper cells which undermine
the process of reconstruction? What are the problems
facing you?
President Assad:
When I mentioned that the pardons and
reconciliations have been successful, this doesn’t
mean that the success was a hundred percent; nothing
is perfect. Some of these people still have
terrorist leanings and extremist ideology, and are
still cooperating with extremist groups in other
areas and carrying out terrorist acts. In the past
few weeks, there have been a number of explosive
devices planted in different places or under cars.
These terrorist acts have claimed the lives of many
victims. However, this doesn’t mean that we stop
the process of reconciliations, but rather we need
to hunt down these sleeper cells. We have been able
to arrest a large number of them, but there are
others that are still active. One sleeper cell
might carry out a number of acts giving the
impression that a full organisation exists. Whereas
in fact it is one cell made up of a group of
individuals and by arresting them you are able to
restore safety and security. However, this
challenge will remain, because terrorism still
exists in Syria and outside support in the form of
weapons and money is still at large. Therefore, we
do not expect to eliminate these sleeper cells in
the foreseeable future. We will continue to
eliminate cells and others will appear, until things
return to normal in Syria.
Question 11:
Mr. President, in two months’ time, if I’m not
mistaken, the country will hold parliamentary
elections, in these difficult circumstances. How
difficult will that be? Or, would they proceed
according to plan, and nothing will stop or obstruct
them?
President Assad:
There is a constitution and we are governed by it.
We do not give in to Western threats or Western
wishes, and we do not consider any factor other than
the constitution. The issue of postponing
constitutional deadlines, whether for presidential
or parliamentary elections, was raised with us
several times and we refused to do so during the
war. Parliamentary elections will be held in a few
months’ and we will proceed according to the
constitutional agenda regardless of anything else.
Question 12:
We talked about the domestic situation, let’s now
talk about the outer environment. The Syrian Arab
Republic has been subjected since 2011 to
tightly-enforced isolation, not only by the
Americans and the Europeans, which was expected, but
also by the Arab League and its member states,
including the Arab Gulf states. We know that the UAE
embassy was reopened, and that Oman did not close
its embassy and continued to work as usual. Do you
see a positive change on the part of the Arab world,
or is the situation still as it was, and that
isolation persists? And what are the prospects of
your contacts with the European Union? I’ll not ask
about the Americans, for everything regarding them
is unfortunately clear.
President Assad:
Most Arab countries have maintained their relations
with Syria, but not publicly for fear of pressure.
These countries have expressed their support for
Syria and their wishes for us to defeat terrorism.
However, Western pressure and American in
particular, was severe on these countries to remain
distant and not to open their embassies in Syria,
particularly the Gulf states. Europe however, is
completely different. In fact, for us, Europe for
more than two decades and even before this war, has
been absent on the global political arena. Europe
has ceased to exist since 2003, after the American
invasion of Iraq. Europe surrendered completely to
the United States and its role was limited to
implementing what it was charged with by the
American administration.
So, whether they
communicate with us or not, the result is the same.
Whether they open embassies or not, there is no
value. We have met with a number of security
officials from most European countries and they have
been reasonable but they are unable to change
course. Some have frankly said, “we are unable to
change, our politicians cannot change their policies
because the European policy is linked to the
American policy.” They climbed the tree and are
simply unable to come down. That’s why we do not
waste our time talking about a European role and
European policy. The master is the American. We
can talk about the Americans and this automatically
includes the Europeans.
But in answer to your
question, yes, there is a change. There are clear
convictions that this war has not achieved what
those countries, or some of the colonialist
countries wanted, that the Syrian people have paid
the price, that stability has paid the price and now
the Europeans are paying the price. The problem of
refugees in Europe is huge, but they will not change
in the near future. This is my conviction.
Question 13:
Now, Turkey is blackmailing Europe by using the
migrants. And this is what Erdogan is doing right
now.
President
Assad: Turkey started sending the second
wave of refugees to Europe as a form of blackmail.
Erdogan had threatened that he would send refugees.
Yesterday, there were videos on various media
outlets about the beginning of a migrant movement
towards Europe.
Question 14:
In one of your answers, you touched on the relation
with Russia. We consider it a relation of
partnership. But this relation went through
difficult years when Russia limited its presence in
the Middle East and other parts of the world. Many
people saw that as a betrayal, and that Russia
turned its back on its old allies and partners. Now,
how do you describe these relations which have been
strengthened naturally during nine years of war?
Since our aforementioned opponents, including the
Europeans and the Americans, who are “evil tongues”
as we say in Russia, claim that Syria is under
Russian control. Is that true in reality. For our
part, we look at this relation as a partnership and
an alliance.
President Assad:
Our relations with you span more than six decades;
this is not a short period of time and it covers
several generations. We know each other very well
and this relationship has been through various
experiences. Through the different circumstances,
including the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, our relations with Russia have always been
based on mutual respect, a peer-to-peer
relationship. We have never felt at any time, even
during this war, that Russia is trying to impose its
views on us. They have always treated us with
respect; even when we differed, they respected the
views of the Syrian government. This is a general
rule that has governed the past decades and hasn’t
changed because it is based on Russian customs,
traditions, and perspectives. So, on a bilateral
level the relationship between Syria and Russia is
clearly a partnership, particularly now after the
war, this partnership has become stronger and more
reliable.
However, if we wanted
to view our relationship with Russia from a
different perspective, which is Russia’s
international role, the issue is different. Today,
many small countries and even countries of medium
strength around the world, look towards Russia and
rely to a large extent on its role, because it is
Russia’s duty today to restore international balance
to the global arena. The presence of the Russian
military base in Syria is not only aimed at fighting
terrorism but also at creating an international
political balance in the Security Council, as well
as a military balance in different areas with a view
of restoring the Russian role. Restoring this role
is in the interest of all states, including Syria
and other small and medium-sized countries as I
mentioned. Therefore, we view this relationship
from two perspectives: a partnership on the
bilateral level and a relationship based on this
international role, which we hope will continue to
increase as has been the case since President Putin
came to power in 2000 and restored Russia’s
position.
Question 15:
Now we are talking about military and political
support. What about the economy? Going back to
rebuilding Syria, are there large Russian – or
non-Russian – projects which help in reconstruction?
Is there a state or a company which is prepared to
come and invest in the Syrian economy without fear
of sanctions or political problems caused by the
United States and Europe? For instance, there used
to be a flourishing pharmaceutical industry in
Aleppo, which used to export its products throughout
the Middle East, and you, as a doctor, know that.
Are there any ideas to restore industrial production
in the pharmaceutical field or other fields? And to
what extent the lack of resources will affect these
economic projects, considering that oil is now
outside state control and is controlled by a power,
which came from beyond the Atlantic and built its
bases there under the pretext of protecting oil?
President Assad:
When we built our infrastructure in Syria in the
1970s and the 1980s, we did not have oil at that
time. It was built with Syrian money and with
Syrian capabilities. So, we know we have the
capabilities and can provide the resources. There
is a lot of Syrian capital within Syria and mostly
abroad and should most certainly take part in this
process.
Since 2018, there has
been a great interest from big companies outside of
Syria – Arab and non-Arab, to participate in the
reconstruction. However, what’s happening is that
the Americans are applying huge pressure and
threatening individuals and companies alike; this
has no doubt frightened some of these companies.
This is happening even with regard to Russian
companies. There are several Russian companies
which want to invest in Syria but fear taking any
step. Chinese companies have the same problem.
However, every
problem has a solution. Most recently, a number of
large international companies have started to come
to Syria using different methods which enable them
to evade the sanctions. So, there is a possibility
now for these companies to work in Syria without
facing sanctions. Of course, I cannot discuss these
methods, but we have started to see a return of
foreign investment. It is true that the movement is
slow, but I believe it is a good start – a promising
start, to support the reconstruction process which
we have started. We did not wait; we have begun in
some areas and in order to expand there must be a
larger number of companies and investments.
Question 16:
What are the areas which you consider priorities or
most attractive to investors?
President Assad:
Of course, the most important is rebuilding the
destroyed suburbs. I think this will be of high
interest for investment companies and several have
already expressed interest; this is certainly a
profitable area. Another sector is oil and gas,
which is also profitable. There are already a
number of Russian companies that have started
operating in Syria during the past few years and are
now planning to increase production. The biggest
obstacle preventing expansion in this sector is the
terrorist and American occupation of the most
important sites of oil wells in Syria. The
Americans know this of course, and that’s why they
continue to occupy the oil wells and obstruct the
reconstruction process. In short, these are the
most important sectors. Of course, there are many
other areas which any society needs, but are less
important for international companies.
Question 17:
As we know, there is a big problem caused by
freezing Syrian funds in foreign banks. Is it
difficult to finance some contracts because of that?
President Assad:
That’s true. This is robbery in every sense of the
word; but if the money is stolen it doesn’t mean
that as a state and as a society we should stop
creating wealth. We have many capabilities and this
is one of the reasons why we have survived nine
years of war. They are well aware that if the war
stopped completely, Syrian society is capable of
rising in a strong manner and that we will be
stronger economically than we were before the war.
This is why they have resorted to threatening Syrian
and foreign companies. In other words, if a Syrian
citizen wants to invest in Syria, they will likely
be sanctioned, or oil revenues are prevented from
returning to Syria. The more important factor is the
ongoing war, which discourages companies and
prevents them from coming to Syria. If these three
factors are eliminated, we have no problem in
rebuilding the country. We have strong human and
material resources in Syria and we also have
faithful friends like Russia and Iran who will help
us.
Question 18:
Mr. President, we talked about Idlib in general, and
touched on the oil fields east of the Euphrates
river controlled by the Americans, and we know that
there is a power outage every four hours, and we
know that power plants are mostly fueled by oil
products. This factor – controlling oil and oil
products – is crucial for Syrian economy. Do you
have any plans to restore control over the areas
east of the Euphrates? How are you going to proceed
in that direction?
President Assad:
Militarily the priority now is Idlib, this is why
we see Erdogan using all his force and no doubt
under American directives. This is because by
liberating Idlib we will be able to move towards
liberating the eastern regions. As I have said on
several occasions, for them, Idlib militarily is an
advanced post. They have used all their power to
obstruct the liberation of Idlib, so that we do not
move eastward. However, despite not yet advancing
towards the eastern region, we are still in direct
communication with the population there. There is a
great deal of anger and resentment on their part
against the American occupation and against the
groups acting on behalf of the Americans.
I believe that this
anger will build up gradually and there will be
resistance operations against the occupiers. It is
the national and constitutional duty of the state to
support any act against an occupying power. As time
goes by, the Americans will not have a population
supporting them but a population standing against
the American occupation. They will not be able to
stay, neither for the oil nor to support terrorists
like ISIS and al-Nusra or any other reason. The
same of course, applies to the Turks who are
occupying the northern part of Syrian territories.
If they do not leave through political
negotiations, they must leave by force. This is
what we will do. This is also our patriotic duty as
Syrians.
Question 19:
It’s good that we have arrived at this difficult
issue. If we talk about the Kurds who live in the
east and northeast of the country, and who might not
be happy with the Americans and the Turks,
particularly the Turks, with whom they have a
longstanding enmity. Their relationship with
Damascus is difficult because they are separatists
and supported the United States at one point and
became its allies. The question here is about
reunifying the Syrian Arab Republic and
reintegrating its territories within its legal
borders. How are you going to build your policy
regarding the Kurds, taking into account that
Damascus has almost accused them of treason because
they signed an agreement with the Americans. Do you
have a plan in that regard? What’s the price for
integrating them? What can you give the Kurds? And
what are the things which you cannot give them?
President Assad:
We are in contact with the Kurdish
political groups in northern Syria, the problem is
that some of these groups, not all of them, operate
under American authority. We do not say “the Kurds”
because the larger part of the Kurds are patriotic
groups or tribes which support the state; however,
these groups have no voice. Those who control the
area are small groups acting with the Americans.
As to what is
sometimes referred to as the “Kurdish cause,” there
is no such cause in Syria for a simple reason.
Historically, there are Kurds who live in Syria;
these groups which came to the north did so during
the last century and only as a result of the Turkish
oppression. We have hosted them in Syria. Kurds,
Armenians and other groups came to Syria and we had
no problem with that. For example, there is no
Syrian-Armenian issue. There is a great diversity
in Syria and we do not have an issue with that
diversity, so why would we have a problem with the
Kurds?! The problem is with the groups that started
to promote separatist propositions a few decades
ago, mainly in the early 1980s. Yet despite this,
when the Turkish state during various periods
oppressed and killed the Kurds in Turkey, we
supported them. We haven’t stood against their
cause, if they call it a cause. In Syria, they were
given a nationality, even though they were not
Syrian. We have always been positive regarding the
Kurdish issue. Therefore, what is called “the
Kurdish cause” is an incorrect title, a false title.
The problem right now
is dealing with the Americans. The Americans are
occupiers; they occupied our lands. The Americans
are thieves stealing our oil. You cannot play both
sides: between those who protect the law and those
who break it. You cannot stand with the police and
the thief at the same time, this is impossible. You
are either with the police or the thief. So, we
cannot reach results in any dialogue with them, even
if we were to meet thousands of times, unless they
take a clear position, a patriotic position: to be
against the Americans, against occupation and
against the Turks because they too are occupiers.
Quite simply, this is
our demand. This is a national position and as a
government we are responsible for the constitution
and for our national interests. The whole Syrian
people accept nothing less than them taking a stand
against the occupation. As for anything else, if
they have other demands, the Syrian people have
demands too. How do we achieve results? We engage
in discussions and then we can decide: do we change
the constitution? Do we change the law? Or any other
measure, this is all possible. This is a
Syrian-Syrian dialogue. However, the government in
Syria does not own the constitution; the people own
the constitution and therefore they are the ones who
can change the constitution.
Question 20:
If we take into account what is happening in Idlib,
which we talked about at the beginning of the
interview, and that Turkey is one of the main
opponents of the Kurds, does the idea of reaching a
reconciliation with the Kurds tempt you on these
grounds? You can choose not to answer this question
if you like.
President Assad:
On the contrary, this is a logical question. These
Kurdish groups which claim to be against Turkish
occupation and issue statements that they will
fight, did not fire a single bullet when the Turks
invaded. Why? Because the Americans identified
which area the Turks would enter and the boundaries
that they should reach, as well as the areas that
these groups should leave. So, do we agree on
statements or on actions? We want to agree on the
actions. In their statements, they have said that
they are against the Turks, but they are not doing
anything against them at all. They are neutral.
They are moving in line with the Americans and the
Turks. Only the Syrian government and other
segments of Syrian society are fighting the Turks
and losing martyrs every day. Other than that, I
agree with you. If they were to say “we will agree
with you against the Turks,” my response would be,
we are ready, send your fighters so that together we
can defend our land.
Question 21:
In this region, there is also a very old enemy of
the Syrian Arab Republic, which always reminds
people of itself, Israel, or the Zionist entity as
you call it. How do you see the “great” Deal of the
Century, the gift given to us by American President
Donald Trump? Where might it take us? I don’t mean
to influence your answer in any way. I’m only
recalling what is being discussed in Russia, that
the deal as a solution for the Palestinian cause is
simply a dead end.
President Assad:
Our relations with the United States were
restored during the Nixon administration in 1974.
Since that time, we have met with numerous American
officials in the administration, with presidents and
members of Congress, and we have learned one thing
only: anything an American politician does, is first
and foremost to serve his personal interests in
relation to the next elections. They do not think
of higher national American interests. They do not
think of world stability, or of international law,
or the rights of peoples. This doesn’t exist in
their policies. They only think of their elections
and nothing else.
As to the ‘deal of
the century,’ this proposition was made at this
particular time only for the next American
elections. The presidential elections will be held
at the end of this year. So, the idea is
meaningless, an empty shell. The idea, if applied,
is not harmful, but rather destructive to the Middle
East and the peace process which started in the
early 1990s. However, when would their idea succeed
and when would it fail? It succeeds if the people
of this region agree that it should succeed. If you
review all political and official statements, as
well as public opinion on social media, you will
find a total rejection of this plan, including from
states and governments allied with America and those
that have relations with Israel. So, it’s safe to
say that it is a stillborn plan. Trump might be
able to use it in his next elections in order to
please the Israeli lobby in the United States. But
after that, we will probably not hear about the
‘deal of the century’ until the next elections. At
which point there will be another and worse plan
presented for the next elections.
Question 22:
Thank you very much Mr. President. I have one final
question, maybe a more emotional question. To what
extent have these past nine years been difficult
psychologically for you? To what extent have they
been difficult to your family? Your wife has founded
and manages one of the biggest charities in Syria
which provides a great deal to children, to the
wounded, and to restoration of normal life. I
realize that I might be asking embarrassing
questions, and I apologize for that, but to what
extent have you suffered from what is happening
within your family? And when you look back at what
you have done during the past nine years, do you say
to yourself that you haven’t done what you should
have done on certain issues, or that a mistake was
made in this regard and the right thing was done on
another issue, and more should have been done?
President Assad:
There are two sides to this question: one is the
formal, when I think about this war in my official
capacity within the state and the other is the
personal.
As an official, the
first thing you think of in this situation is
protecting the country; this is your duty as a head
of state. Here we can take as an example something
that lives on as a tradition, which is the Great
Patriotic War in Russia. Your relations with
Germany, like any other country, were good. You had
normal relations: agreements, engagements, meetings
and you had not done anything against Germany.
Nevertheless, the Nazis attacked Russia and you
lost 26 million martyrs, maybe more. Was there any
other choice but to defend your country? No, that
was the only choice. The decision taken by the
Russian leadership at the time was the right
decision supported by the Russian people who
defended their country. Were there mistakes? Of
course, there are mistakes in every action. Are
there political or military decisions which could
have been better? Certainly, for everything has
flaws and errors. The same applies to us in Syria.
The decisions which we took from day one, were to
preserve the sovereignty of Syria and to fight
terrorists until the end, and we are still doing
that. After nine years, I believe that had we taken
a different direction, we would have lost our
country from day one. That’s why this decision was
the right one. As to the mistakes made in daily
matters, they are always there, of course. Every
time there is a mistake, we should correct it and
change the decision. This is the normal thing to
do.
On a personal level,
here I am like any other citizen; every individual
has ambitions for his country. Especially that
before the war, we were advancing and achieving
significant growth, and the country was developing
at a fast pace. It is true that we had many
problems because when the reform process moves
quickly, it has negative aspects, maybe in the form
of corruption or policy mistakes. But by and large,
our national capabilities were improving and
developing. After nine years, when you see how far
behind you are economically, technologically,
culturally and educationally, of course there is a
sense of frustration at times at a personal level.
Certainly, in the end, any war regardless of its
causes or outcomes, is a very bad thing. You cannot
have a positive feeling towards any war. You will
always feel pain and frustration. On a daily basis,
you are losing good people and draining your
resources. So, there is certainly a kind of pain
that you feel on a daily basis on a personal level.
However, at the same time, this pain should be the
motivation and the incentive for you to do more and
to have confidence and hope that you are capable of
becoming stronger and better than before.
Journalist:
You have confirmed once again that a person like
you can only have one position, the position of the
statesman, because the views you have expressed are
the views and the position of a statesman.
Mr. President, thank
you very much for agreeing to give us this
interview. Today we have been with President of the
Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad, and this was
“International Review.” I am Yevgeny Primakov,
wishing you all the best.
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