Israel is concerned about increased weapons proliferation among Palestinian resistance groups, focusing on smuggling from Jordan. However, these weapons may be coming from a source ‘closer to home.’
On 22 April, Israeli occupation authorities apprehended Jordanian parliamentarian Imad al-Adwan at the Allenby Bridge crossing. But this was no ordinary arrest. Adwan was caught attempting to smuggle an astonishing cache of over 200 guns and bags of gold into the occupied-Palestinian West Bank.
Adwan’s audacious actions have reignited Israel’s long-held fears that Palestinian resistance factions in the West Bank could acquire a significant arsenal of firearms from across the border with Jordan. Yet the notion of such a daring endeavor is implausible and fraught with risks.
The resistance is more likely to simply purchase black market arms from sources within 1948-occupied Palestine (Israel), especially given its greater access to funds from supporters in the Iran-led Axis of Resistance. The Iranian leadership has previously vowed to arm West Bank resistance factions, just as they have done for their Gaza-based counterparts.
MP Adwan, who is a member of the Jordanian parliament’s Palestine committee and has previously spoken out against Israel’s routine aggression against Palestinians and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is no stranger to Israeli intelligence.
The Shin Bet said that since February 2022, Adwan had used his diplomatic passport 12 times to smuggle various goods, including “birds, pigeons, electronic cigarettes and gold,” and in 2023, had begun smuggling weapons “out of greed and received large sums of money.”
Local vs. smuggled weapons
A researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Public Relations retired General Yossi Kuperwasser, confirmed that this is not the first time that Adwan has transferred weapons to the occupied West Bank.
Kuperwasser hinted that Adwan’s arrest was based on intelligence information from the Jordanian side and that the Jordanian authorities did not arrest him, so as to avoid arousing the anger of Adwan’s clan, who have since hailed him as a “brave patriot.”
According to Yedioth Ahronoth journalist Jackie Khoji, the members of this clan are spread out on “the borders with Israel, and they can turn this region into a hotspot.”
Over the past two years alone, Israeli border guards have intercepted 1,600 weapons destined for the occupied Palestinian territories, all originating from Jordan. Despite the strenuous efforts of both Israeli and Jordanian security forces to fortify their borders, the weapons continued to flow, leaving them grappling with unanswered questions: Where were these weapons originating from? Who were the intended recipients? What were they to be used for? And how much did they cost?
Israeli security and military services are aware that some of the weapons entering the West Bank end up in the hands of clans or organized criminal gangs among Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. However, most concerning are the weapons that end up in the arsenal of the resistance factions.
This has prompted the Israeli army to carry out numerous recent military operations in the Aqabat Jabr camp in the east of the West Bank, to arrest wanted persons, confiscate weapons, and dismantle bomb-making laboratories and resistance infrastructure.
In a report by Arab News last year, Ismat Mansour, a writer on Israeli affairs, claimed that the smuggled weapons mostly go to families for use in internal conflicts, in addition to the armed militias of some sections of the Fatah movement in preparation for the time when Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas finally steps down:
“These weapons are mostly light and the Palestinians do not use them in their attacks against the Israelis as they use locally manufactured weapons such as ‘Carlo’ and ‘M16’ rifles coming from Israel through weapons dealers.”
Escalating Palestinian operations in the West Bank
In past years, arms smuggling to the occupied West Bank has increased from Iraq and Syria via Jordan, as well as across the Lebanese borders and from the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to the Israeli Walla! news site: “The Syrian border is witnessing a concentration of smuggling of Soviet weapons such as the Kalashnikov, while the Jordanian border is being used to smuggle western and American weapons. This phenomenon is growing. Ronen Calvon, commander of the [Israeli] defense unit in the southern region, warned that we are facing a strategic threat that requires joint action from all the state’s security and military agencies.”
“The huge stockpile of firearms in Judea and Samaria is intolerable.” This is how Lilac Shoval, a military correspondent for the Israel Hayom newspaper, described the situation in the occupied West Bank. Because some of these weapons are used to launch attacks against settlers and occupation soldiers, the Israeli army is making plans to “clean up” some cities and camps in the northern West Bank.
The Kan radio station also quoted “senior officials in the army and the Shin Bet as saying that there is no choice. The army is about to carry out a large-scale operation in the northern West Bank.”
“Despite the army’s intelligence activity and the increase in arrests and assassinations, the pace of Palestinian operations in the northern West Bank continues to increase,” said Elior Halevy, military affairs analyst for Kan.
Evolving resistance tactics
The Israelis are aware that significant changes have taken place in the West Bank with far-reaching implications. Palestinian Authority (PA) control over cities and camps has weakened, and the economic situation has deteriorated, while the control of the Zionist religious right over the Israeli government, and the number of settlers, who have become more aggressive, have increased.
Facing this grim reality, throwing stones or Molotov cocktails is no longer an ideal resistance tactic, and knives are no longer the main tool for carrying out operations against the occupation. This new Palestinian generation has moved on to acquiring and using weapons despite their exorbitant prices.
The use of firearms to carry out attacks against the occupation soldiers and illegal settlers has impacted the army’s performance. Almost every raid against any of the West Bank cities is now accompanied by an armed clash with the resistance fighters in response.
According to figures from the Shin Bet, 2022 witnessed an increase in the number of attacks compared to 2021. Despite Operation Breakwater, which was carried out by the army and the Shin Bet security service last year to thwart resistance attacks, Elisha Ben Kimon indicated in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that “1,570 operations took place in the West Bank in 2021, in which 18 settlers were killed and 196 others injured, compared to 1933 attacks in 2022, which killed 29 soldiers and settlers and wounded about 128 others.”
The increase in Israeli casualties is due to the development of the type of weapons used: from stabbing with knives and run-over operations with cars during the “knives intifada” in 2015, to automatic weapons today.
Rising prices
Yedioth Ahronoth reported late last year that the Israeli security services do not have accurate information about the number of rifles and weapons in the West Bank. It added that years of “calm and economic privileges” had allowed a large number of Palestinians from various regions of the West Bank to obtain personal weapons, including pistols, M16 and Kalashnikov rifles, and even Israeli-made Tavor rifles.
It pointed out that most of the “weapons, with the exception of the northern regions of the West Bank, Nablus, and Jenin, are not directed against Israelis and settlers at present, and are used in local disputes.”
The Israeli army’s measures to control arms smuggling have led to a massive increase in prices compared to those in neighboring countries. The price of the original M4 rifle is about $30,000 (between $4,500 and $6,000 in Lebanon), and the Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK47) is $20,000 (less than $750 in Lebanon).
An old M16 rifle sells for about $16,000 (between $1,200 and $1,600 in Lebanon), and the fourth and fifth generations of Glock pistols cost $15,000 (roughly $2,000 in the US and Europe), while the demand for the locally-manufactured Carlo rifle is less due to its many faults.
The high profits generated by this trade (upwards of 700 percent) leads to an increase in attempts to smuggle weapons. However, it is important to note that the majority of arms dealers buy weapons from the Israeli black market through organized theft of weapons and ammunition from army bases.
Arming the Resistance
However, smuggling weapons to the West Bank and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories is not a purely commercial affair. In 2014, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, called for the arming of the West Bank “as the only solution to confront this brutal entity,” suggesting a strong will to transfer weapons to the West Bank.
In this context, the northern front with Lebanon is witnessing large-scale arms transfers, in terms of quantity or high quality, in preparation for the “zero hour.” According to a report last year by Israeli Channel 12, Israeli police concluded that Hezbollah had decided, after the Dignity Strike in the occupied territories in 2021, to flood Israel with light weapons, such as pistols and machine guns, in preparation for the moment of confrontation.
The channel revealed that the anti-terrorism unit of the Israeli police, Yamar, has since monitored an increase in attempts to smuggle weapons from Jordan and Lebanon. Yaron Ben Yishai of the intelligence department in the Yamar unit in the Northern Command said, “Hezbollah directs 95 percent of the smuggling operations through Lebanon.”
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
Likewise, the means of smuggling weapons have become increasingly sophisticated. Last February, Jordanian border guards shot down a drone that tried to cross the border with Syria, in which an “M4 rifle and 4 bombs were found. The drone was booby-trapped to explode if caught.”
Although Israel has failed to stop the smuggling of arms to the resistance factions in the West Bank, it has succeeded in restricting transportation routes, which in turn has caused a significant increase in prices.
This led to the adoption of different methods, such as the provision of finances to buy weapons domestically from arms dealers. This is the Israeli explanation for the large amount of gold confiscated from the Jordanian MP.
Similarly, the PA authorities arrested Musab Shtayyeh in Nablus in September 2022 on charges of transferring funds from Hamas to the Lions’ Den resistance group. At the beginning of this month, the Israeli army arrested a person under the pretext of transferring money from Hamas to resistance fighters in Jenin.
As a result, Israel has tightened its siege on the West Bank in a desperate attempt to stifle the growth of military capabilities within the resistance factions. However, these factions, determined and resourceful, continue to evolve in their tactics to ensure a steady supply of weapons.
The prevailing trajectory seems to be leading Israel towards a pivotal crossroads, one that may necessitate a “final solution” in the form of a large-scale military campaign in the northern West Bank. Such a drastic move would undoubtedly carry severe consequences for the Israeli army, raising the stakes to an alarming level, as the occupation state now faces threats from multiple fronts.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
Russian-brokered Syrian-Turkish rapprochement will bury prospects of a divided Syria, with the potential for opposition factions to be co-opted into the armed forces.
The newly-initiated Syrian-Turkish rapprochement talks are headed in Damascus’ favor and the “Turkish concessions” derided by opponents are just the start, insiders tell The Cradle.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already abandoned his dream of “praying in the Umayyad Mosque” in Damascus. But sources say this will be swiftly followed by further concessions that will throw a wrench into the ambitions of Syria’s opposition factions.
An undivided Syria
There will be no “federalism” or “confederation” – western codewords for the break up of the Syrian state – at these talks, but rather a “Turkish-Russian” acceptance of Damascus’ conditions.
For starters, Ankara plans to open the strategic M4 highway – which runs parallel to the Turkish border and connects all the vital Syrian cities and regions – as a prelude to opening the legal border crossings between Syria and Turkiye, which will re-establish trade routes between the two countries.
This move, based on an understanding between Damascus and Ankara, will essentially close the door on any opposition fantasies of breaking Syria into statelets, and will undermine the “Kurdish-American divisive ambition.”
It is not for nothing that Washington has sought to thwart communications between Ankara and Damascus. Under the guise of “fighting ISIS,” the US invested heavily in Syrian separatism, replacing the terror group with “Kurdish local forces” and reaped the rewards in barrels of stolen Syrian oil to help mitigate the global energy crisis.
Now Turkiye has closed the door to that ‘federalization’ plan.
A Russian-backed proposal
The Syrian-Turkish talks in Moscow on 28 December focused mainly on opening and establishing the necessary political, security, and diplomatic channels – a process initiated by their respective defense ministers.
While resolving the myriad thorny files between the two states is not as easy as the optimists would like, it is also nowhere as difficult as the fierce opponents of rapprochement try to suggest.
The Moscow discussions centered on mild, incremental solutions proposed by Russia. The Kremlin understands that the minefield between Ankara and Damascus needs to be dismantled with cold minds and hands, but insists that the starting point of talks is based on the political formulas of the Astana peace process that all parties have already accepted.
On the ground, Moscow is busy marketing satisfactory security settlements for all, though those on the battlefield appear to be the least flexible so far. The Russian plan is to “present security formulas to the military,” intended to be later translated into the integration of forces – whether Kurdish fighters or opposition militants – into the ranks of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
This will be achieved via committees led by both Syrian and Turkish intelligence services, a Russian source involved in coordinating the talks tells The Cradle.
Occupied areas of Syria, in 2023
Co-opting the Kurds
The Russian proposals, according to the source, rely on two past successful models for reconciliation on the battlefield. The first is the “Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood model in northern Aleppo,” an area once controlled by Kurdish forces who began to coordinate with the SAA after the sweeping 2016 military operation that expelled opposition militants from the eastern neighborhoods of the city.
The Russian source says that the “Sheikh Maqsoud” model succeeded because of “security coordination,” revealing that “Syrian state security is deployed at the entrances to the neighborhood with checkpoints that coordinate with the Kurdish forces inside – in every way, big and small.” This security coordination includes “arresting criminally wanted persons, and facilitating administrative and service services” in coordination with Damascus.
The second reconciliation model used by Russian forces in Syria succeeded in bringing together the SAA and Sheikh Maqsoud Kurdish militias in a joint military maneuver conducted near the town of Manbij in the countryside of Aleppo last August.
While the Russian source confirms that the experience of “security coordination” between the SAA and the Kurdish forces was “successful,” he cautions that these models need “political arrangements” which can only be achieved by “an agreement in Astana on new provisions to the Syrian constitution, which give Kurds more flexibility in self-governance in their areas.”
Opposition amnesty
A parallel proposal revealed to The Cradle by a Turkish source, approaches ground solutions from a “confederation” angle, anathema to the Syrian authorities. According to him, “Damascus must be convinced of sharing power with the qualified factions of the (Turkish) National Army for that.”
While the Turkish proposal tried to move a step closer to Damascus’ aims, it seems that Russian mediation contributed to producing a new paradigm: This would be based on the tried-and-tested Syrian “military reconciliation” model used for years – namely, that opposition militants hand over their arms, denounce hostility to the state, and are integrated into the SAA.
Turkiye’s abandonment of its “demand to overthrow the regime” applies also to its affiliated military factions inside Syria, as the latter’s goals have dwindled to preserving some areas of influence in the north of the country. This is the current flavor of Turkiye’s reduced “confederation” ambitions: To maintain Turkish-backed factions within “local administrations” in northern areas where Turkiye has influence. This, in return for giving up on Ankara’s political ambition of “regime change” in Damascus and redrawing Syria’s northern map.
The solution here will require amending the Syrian constitution, a process that began several years ago to no avail.
From the Syrian perspective, officials are focused on eliminating all opposing separatist or terrorist elements who do not have the ability to adapt to a “unified” Syrian society.
Therefore, Damascus rejects military reconciliation proposals for any “sectarian” separatist or factional militias. Syrian officials reiterate that “the unity of the lands and the people” is the only gateway to a solution, away from the foreign interests that promote “terrorism or secession” – a reference to the Turkish and American role in Syria’s war.
Reconciliation on Damascus’ terms
There is no “confederation” in the dictionary of the Syrian state, and it is determined to stick hard to the principle of Syrian unity until the end. Damascus is intent on one goal: Reconciliations based on surrendering arms in the countryside of Latakia, Idlib, Aleppo, Raqqa, Hasakah, Qamishli, and al-Tanf, which are the areas that are still outside the control of the state.
According to the Turkish source, Syria refused to discuss anything “outside the framework of reconciliations and handing over weapons and regions,” which he says “makes it difficult for Ankara to undertake its mission,” especially in light of the fact that the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front controls large parts of these target areas.
A Syrian source tells The Cradle that the “Qamishli model” of military reconciliation is the closest one that applies to this case: Wherein “the SAA and national defense forces (the majority of which are pro-Damascus Kurds) coordinate fully.”
He makes clear that Damascus has already provided ample self-governance mechanisms for Kurds in the country’s north:
“The (Kurdish-run) Autonomous Administration in Syria already exists. It deals directly with Syria’s Ministry of Local Administration (in Damascus) and has multiple agencies that work through local representative councils to implement government plans in terms of security, tax collection, and services,” and of course it consists of the people of the region – Kurds.
The recent statement of top Erdogan advisor Yassin Aktay may throw a wrench in those works. His insistence that Turkiye should maintain control over the city of Aleppo – Syria’s second most populous, and its industrial heart – did not come out of nowhere.
Ankara considers that its repatriation of three million Syrian refugees should start from “local administrations run by the (Turkish-backed) Syrian National Army (a rebranded version of the opposition ‘Free Syrian Army),” says the Turkish source.
He is referring to Idlib, Aleppo, and their countrysides, and the areas in which Turkiye launched its “Olive Branch” and “Euphrates Shield” military operations. These locales in Syria’s north include the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo, including Azaz, Jarabulus, al-Bab, Afrin, and its environs.
Turkiye may consider gradually handing over these strategic zones to its allied Syrian militias, he says.
“Call it confederation or not, these areas should be controlled by the Syrian National Army factions instead of the Al-Nusra Front – in order to ensure the safe return of the refugees.”
Steady progress
In short, the Russian mediation to bring Damascus and Ankara closer is moving slowly, but according to the Turkish source, “it is closer to reconciliation because the Syrian Ministry of Local Administration is beginning to take charge of regional affairs after holding new local council elections – in compliance with plans forged in the Astana process.”
Regarding Astana, the Turkish source says, “Let the Syrians treat the Kurdish and opposition areas as one, if the Kurds agree to dismantle their factions and join the Syrian army within a certain equation, the opposition factions will also accept.”
Regarding the complicated geopolitics of Syria’s east – currently occupied by US troops and their proxies – a high-ranking Syrian official who recently visited Saudi Arabia and Cairo, proposed “Arab intervention with the Syrian tribes to disengage tribe members in the Al-Tanf region from the US forces.” But according to the official, this would be subject to “the progress of relations between Damascus, Riyadh, Cairo, and possibly even Jordan.”
A few days ago, a video message was sent by Nusra Front leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani, in which he thundered: “Where are the armies of the Muslims?” It is a topical message from Al Qaeda’s Syria boss, who is angling to maintain his sectarian “area of influence” in northwest Syria – strategic Idlib on the Turkish-Syrian border. Julani’s destructive narrative may be the last barrier to break for Damascus, Ankara, and Moscow to strike a deal on the ground.
As the UAE tries to join Russia in mediating between Ankara and Damascus, the US is looking to establish a middle ground between Turkiye and the SDF in hopes of preventing normalization with Syria
During a speech in Ankara on 5 January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad may soon take place, “as part of efforts for peace.” He added that a tripartite meeting between the foreign ministers of Turkiye, Russia and Syria is scheduled to be held in the near future for the first time since 2011.
The upcoming meeting aims to enhance communication after Russian-sponsored talks between the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers were held in Moscow on 28 December. The meeting was the highest-level of official meetings between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian war.
In a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 5 January, Erdogan called on the Syrian government to “take the steps to achieve a tangible solution concerning the case of Syria.”
The US seeks to establish a middle ground between Ankara and the SDF in order to prevent Turkish-Syrian reconciliation
The Syrian-Turkish rapprochement via declared Russian mediation was paralleled by Emirati-Syrian rapprochement – the latest of which was a “brotherly” meeting aimed at strengthening cooperation and restoring historical relations between Assad and Foreign Minister of the UAE Abdallah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, according to SANA.
Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the UAE seeks “to join Russia in sponsoring Syrian-Turkish relations at a high level,” noting that the Emirati foreign minister’s visit to Damascus sought to arrange Turkiye’s participation in the tripartite meeting of Syrian-Turkish-Russian foreign ministers, making it a quadripartite meeting.
The meeting is meant to pave the way for a presidential meeting between Erdogan and Assad in the presence of Putin. Reportedly, the UAE has offered to host this summit, with a possibility of a high-level UAE official being present at the meeting if it will be held in Moscow.
Asharq Al-Awsat added that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu plans to visit Washington on 16-17 January to brief US officials on the developments of Turkish-Syrian normalization, his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faysal Mikdad, and the “roadmap” sponsored by Moscow in the context of security, military, political and economic fields – as agreed upon by the defense ministers as well as the intelligence chiefs in Syria, Turkiye and Russia over the past weeks.
As Turkiye has been launching successive operations against Kurdish groups both on the Turkish-Syrian border as well as within Syria itself under ‘Operation Claw Sword,’ a Western official informed Asharq Al-Awsat that a high-ranking US official will be visiting Ankara in the coming hours as part of efforts to mediate between Turkiye and the SDF in northeastern Syria.
Ankara has demanded that Moscow and Washington commit to the implementation of the bilateral military agreements signed at the end of 2019. The agreements stipulate the withdrawal of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to beyond 30 kilometers from the Turkish border, and from the areas of Manbij and Tal Rifaat, in addition to the withdrawal of all heavy weaponry.
The SDF says that it has fulfilled its obligations, and will not withdraw its police force – known as the Asayish – nor dismantle its local councils, despite Turkiye’s insistence on dissolving all Kurdish military and civil institutions in the area.
Meanwhile, Cavusoglu told media on 29 December that Ankara is willing to withdraw from the territory it occupies in northern Syria and hand it over to Damascus in the event that “political stability” is reached – after cooperation in “neutralizing ISIS members, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the YPG.”
The Saudi newspaper’s report stated that US mediation seeks to reach a “compromise” between the Kurdish groups and Ankara without a new Turkish incursion taking place ahead of the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections in mid-2023. This mediation seems to be an attempt at circumventing the imminent Syrian-Turkish reconciliation.
Another official source disclosed that Ankara was “uncomfortable with the leaks following the meeting of the Syrian, Turkish and Russian defense ministers in Moscow, and that it had agreed to a full withdrawal.” However, the source confirmed that, “it is true that Ankara and Damascus consider the PKK a common threat, and will work against any separatist agenda, because it is an existential threat to both countries,” adding that the two countries will “work to open the Aleppo-Latakia Highway.”
Following the UAE’s visit to Damascus, which came after the US called on its allies and international partners to refrain from normalizing ties with Syria, Asharq Al-Awsat quoted an official as saying that the US has been the only western country to issue a statement against normalization, and is working alongside Paris, Berlin, and London to assume a united stance against normalization with Syria.
Communication is currently underway for a meeting between the representatives of Paris, Berlin, London, and Washington and UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson in Geneva on 23 January. This meeting will take place before Pedersen’s visit to Damascus to meet with the Syrian foreign minister to “confirm the position against normalization, and support the provision of funding for electricity projects within the timeline of early recovery,” stipulated by a resolution for international aid that will be extended before 10 January.
Asharq Al-Awsat said that the UAE has proposed to contribute to the funding of economic and electrical projects in Syria – within the confines of the Caesar Act.
Simultaneously, Jordan, who was the first to open high-level channels of communication with Damascus, is leading efforts alongside other Arab countries to reach a “united Arab position that defines Arab demands in order to make normalization possible.”
The newspaper quoted another western official as saying that Jordan is calling for coordination to put pressure on Damascus to provide political and geopolitical steps for the coming phase in southern Syria, as Amman confirmed that there has been an increase in the smuggling of Captagon, weapons and ammunition across the Syrian border following the start of the normalization process. Additionally, Amman has said that the Iranian presence in southern Syria near the Jordanian border has not diminished, and that there has been an expansion of ISIS activity in the area, according to the official.
Syria’s Arab League membership was suspended in November of 2011 following the start of the Syrian war, and it has been excluded ever since.
Syrian security units with the help of locals eliminated an ISIS terrorist group on the outskirts of Al Sadd Road in the city of Daraa in southern Syria, the security units seized a massive quantity of weapons and munitions from the dens the terrorists were hiding in.
The Syrian news agency Sana reported the qualitative operation quoting a security spokesperson who confirmed the killing of an unspecified number of ISIS (ISIL – Daesh) terrorists during severe clashes in the Al Sadd Road where the US-created, funded, armed, trained, and politically sponsored ISIS terrorists holed in houses and farms which they turned into fortresses.
Local sources reported hearing heavy clashes from the early hours of dawn of today Monday, 31st October, in the area in the south of the city of Daraa, and the clashes continued to the time of this report.
The local sources added that dozens of former fighters in the NATO-sponsored ISIS terrorists joined the security agencies within the ranks of the Eighth Brigade of the Fifth Corp of the Syrian Arab Army in protecting their city against the ISIS terrorists.
The Fifth Corps comprises mainly former fighters who were either forced to join some of the many terrorist groups of the so-called FSA, an umbrella for a variety of Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists dubbed by NATO officials and Pentagon stenographs as Moderate Rebels. Other fighters were subjected to heavy propaganda that brainwashed them and thought that betraying their country for foreign powers, killing their own brethren, and destroying their own cities and towns is a patriotic act.
After the liberation of Daraa province from the NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists, the vast majority of the fighters joined the reconciliation process, dropped their weapons, and either returned to their normal lives or joined the Fifth Corps to fight the real terrorists.
The latest escalation comes after an ISIS terrorist blew himself up in the Arba’een neighborhood in Daraa Balad in a house on the 28th of the month killing four civilians and injuring others.
The United States of America’s war ministry, the Pentagon vowed to revive ISIS terrorist groups in late September 2019 after the backbone of the terrorist organization was defeated in both Syria and Iraq, one of the early steps the USA took was committing the unprecedented war crime of killing Iranian General Qassim Soleimani and Iraqi PMU Deputy Leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis at Baghdad Airport on the 3rd of January 2020. Both commanders were instrumental in combating ISIS in the region.
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Following Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s proposal to reconcile between the Syrian government and the opposition factions, supporters of armed groups staged massive protests in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo.
Thousands of supporters of armed groups took to the streets on Friday to protest against Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for proposing reconciliation between the Syrian government and the opposition factions.
Turkey’s top diplomat revealed on Thursday that he had a brief meeting with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in October in Belgrade and that communication between the two countries intelligence agencies had resumed.
Cavusoglu added, “We have to somehow get the opposition and the regime to reconcile in Syria. Otherwise, there will be no lasting peace, we always say this.”
Cavusoglu also stated that there must be strong administration in Syria to prevent any division of the country, adding that “the will that can dominate every corner of its lands can only be achieved through unity and solidarity.”
Supporters of the so-called Turkish-backed National Army took to the streets in major northern cities including Azaz, Al-Bab and Afrin to protest Cavusoglu’s comments.
Some protesters burned a Turkish flag, while others removed Turkish flags displayed throughout major northern cities.
Meanwhile, armed groups summoned supporters to protest in major northern cities, which are under the control of Turkish forces, under the slogan: “No reconciliation”.
Activists confirmed that dozens of demonstrations took place in several areas of Idlib and Aleppo’s countryside, emphasizing their rejection of Cavusoglu’s proposal, which contradicts the Tukey’s claims that the Syrian state is obstructing the country’s political process.
These protests demonstrate that armed groups are the impediment to any political process that leads to stability in the country and a resolution to the 11-year-long crisis.
I would like to thank my colleague, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for the hospitality extended to me and my delegation from the first minutes of my stay on Iranian soil.
Yesterday’s detailed conversation with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi and today’s long talks have confirmed both countries’ focus on deepening cooperation in all areas in accordance with the agreements reached by our leaders. I am referring to Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Russia in January 2022 and his subsequent telephone conversations with President Vladimir Putin. The last call took place on June 8.
The presidents are unanimous that relations between Russia and Iran have reached the highest point in their history. At the same time, there is significant untapped potential for further advancement in our partnership. To this end, work is now underway on a new and comprehensive “big interstate treaty,” initiated by the President of Iran. Some time ago, Russia submitted its proposals and additions to the Iranian initiative to Tehran. Today we agreed that experts should coordinate this important document as soon as possible because it will determine the prospects for our strategic cooperation for the next two decades.
Particular attention during the talks was paid to trade and economic issues, investment, and the need to expand bilateral relations in a situation where the United States and its “satellites” are using illegal sanctions to hinder our countries’ progressive development and the interaction between Russia and Iran, as well as with other countries that reject diktat and refuse to follow Washington’s orders. Despite this discriminatory policy, trade between Russia and Iran showed a record growth of over 80 percent in 2021, exceeding $4 billion for the first time. This trend continued into 2022. We will do everything we can to support it.
A Russian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak visited Tehran at the end of May to promote economic cooperation. The delegation included representatives from the relevant ministries and agencies, the heads of Russian regions that cooperate with Iran, and business representatives. They met with their Iranian counterparts to discuss purely practical issues of expanding cooperation, outlining action plans for such areas as energy, transport, agriculture, finance, banking, and customs. At this point, these ambitious goals are being considered at the level of relevant experts.
We highlighted success in implementing our flagship projects, including the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (the second and third units being under construction), the Sirik Thermal Power Plant that is being built with the state loans issued by the Russian Federation and a project to upgrade a railway section.
Just last week, a panel discussion dedicated to the Russian-Iranian business dialogue took place as part of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. A meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation will be held soon. As we agreed today, the foreign ministries of Russia and Iran will continue to provide political and diplomatic support to all joint economic undertakings every step of the way.
In this context, Russia has been facilitating the Iran-EAEU negotiating process that started out in 2021 to develop a free trade agreement. The working group in question will meet in Isfahan in early July.
We talked about fortifying the contractual and legal framework. Hossain Amir-Abdollahian mentioned an agreement on international cybersecurity and an agreement on creating cultural centres in our countries.
We also mentioned the importance of moving forward with drafting an agreement on cooperation in geological exploration and oil and gas production, as well as with ratifying the existing agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between our countries.
We discussed international issues in depth. We stand together in rejecting the concept of the rules-based order that is pushed forward by the United States and its satellites. This concept is designed for use as a substitute for international law and the UN Charter’s basic principles, primarily the principle of sovereign equality of states. Everything that the United States and its allies are doing in the international arena flat-out undermines this fundamental UN principle. Iran and Russia condemn the untenable practice of unilateral illegal sanctions that are imposed contrary to the UN Charter and need to be opposed by all independent members of the international community.
To this end, the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the United Nations was established which, among others, includes Iran and Russia and has more than 20 members. I’m sure the group will expand.
On behalf of the Russian Federation, we welcome the official process for Iran joining the SCO as a full member which was launched in 2021. A memorandum will be signed at a SCO summit to be held in Samarkand in September that will clearly lay out the legal scope and timeframe for this process. It should not take long.
We are convinced that Tehran will make a significant contribution to strengthening the SCO as one of the key centres of the emerging multipolar order.
We discussed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action designed to settle matters related to the Iranian nuclear programme. In conjunction with other nations that signed this plan, we have been striving for a long time now to correct the mistake made by the United States. Washington withdrew from this deal and from the corresponding UN Security Council resolution, once again trampling upon its commitments under international law. We will push for the JCPOA to be restored in its original configuration, the way it was approved in 2015 by a UN Security Council resolution, without exceptions or additions, to make sure that the illegal sanctions on Iran that are inconsistent with the JCPOA are lifted. We hope Washington will make a rational choice, although we cannot fully rely on that.
We spoke about our cooperation on a Syrian settlement, primarily in the Astana format that includes Russia, Iran and Turkey. We highly rated the regular session in this format which took place in the capital of Kazakhstan in early June of this year. We agreed to continue coordinating our efforts to achieve the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, resolve humanitarian problems in Syria and encourage the international community to start practical work on restoring the infrastructure, preparing for the return of refugees and in general, ensuring the country’s return to normal life.
Iran and the Russian Federation are doing much in this area, helping to implement relevant projects on the ground in the Syrian Arab Republic. Unfortunately, the majority of the Western members of the international community are doing everything to delay fulfilment of the requirements of this resolution and impede the efforts of international organisations to this end, primarily the relevant UN agencies. This politicised course of action prevents the settlement of problems in Syria and, zooming out, in the Middle East and North Africa.
Russia and Iran have a common position on the need to resume direct talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis with a view to implementing all decisions of the international community, including the creation of the State of Palestine and the OIC-approved Arab Peace Initiative. We will uphold this position in the UN and closely cooperate with the OIC and the Arab League.
We talked about the developments in the South Caucasus, Afghanistan and Yemen. Russia and Iran have many opportunities to use their influence and contacts with a view to achieving a durable settlement and normalisation.
We reaffirmed our commitment to facilitate stabilisation in the Persian Gulf. As you know, Russia has introduced and continues promoting a concept for collective security in this important part of the world. We are willing to help promote dialogue between the Arab countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We are members of the Caspian Five. Next week, the Caspian states will meet for a summit in Ashgabat. We coordinated our preparations for this important event.
Talking yesterday with President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi and today with Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, we described in detail the current developments in and around Ukraine. We thanked our Iranian friends for their entirely correct understanding of the events. Above all, they realise that during the past decade our US-led Western colleagues have been trying to turn Ukraine into a bridgehead for threatening and “deterring” Russia, in part, by developing Ukraine’s territory militarily. We repeatedly sought to engage with the West on this matter. All our concerns have been ignored. President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking officials explained many times that Russia simply did not have another choice but to ensure the interests of Donbass and its Russian residents in the face of a threat from the increasingly aggressive neo-Nazi regime that took power in Kiev after the anti-Constitutional coup d’etat. The Kiev authorities and those who put them in power and continue supporting officially refuted all our attempts to achieve the implementation of the Minsk agreements that were approved by the UN Security Council.
We are convinced that an overwhelming majority of the world’s countries understand the current situation. The Americans are trying to impose a “rules-based order” on all others. This concept is designed to subordinate the security of all countries to the interests of the Western world and ensure the total, “eternal” domination of Washington and its allies. Understandably, this concept goes against the entire historical process and the objective trend towards forming a multipolar world order under which countries, with their independence and self-worth intact, will uphold their interests in conformity with the principles of the UN Charter. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are among these countries.
Question: Given the constructive role played by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation in the negotiations, they have managed to reach a sustainable agreement on the JCPOA. We see the current sabotage by the United States through the imposition of new sanctions and anti-Iranian resolutions. They are slowing down the process. What is your assessment of Washington’s destructive policy of slowing down the JCPOA negotiating process?
Sergey Lavrov: Not only on the JCPOA, but on virtually every issue on the international agenda, the United States is totally inconsistent, driven by short-term considerations, glancing back at the problems in the United States itself and how they can try to distract voters from them.
What the United States is doing in the negotiations to resume the JCPOA is an example of such actions, where the focus is on creating a “picture” designed to reaffirm the unquestioned leadership role of the United States on every issue on the international agenda. Such attempts to put a falsely understood reputation ahead of the merits of the issue are highly risky.
About a year ago, the United States tried to blame us for the fact that an agreement to fully resume the JCPOA was delayed. That was, to put it mildly, untrue. Everybody understands this very well. A year ago, the Russian Federation, like all the other parties to the agreement, reiterated its readiness to resume it in full. Since then, the United States has been single-handedly stalling the agreement. We have once again confirmed to our Iranian friends that we will support in every way possible their position on the need to resume the JCPOA in full, without any exceptions or unacceptable “add-ons”. This includes lifting all illegitimate sanctions.
Question (retranslated from Pashto): How close is Russia’s position on the Syrian crisis to that of Iran? Does the warning to Israel about an attack on Damascus International Airport mean that the positions of Iran and Russia are close on this issue?
Sergey Lavrov: We have repeatedly emphasised the need for all countries to strictly fulfil UN Security Council Resolution 2254 that relies on the basic principle of recognising the territorial integrity of the SAR and the need to respect Syria’s sovereignty.
During regular contacts with our Israeli colleagues, we constantly draw their attention to the need to stop violating this resolution and the air space of Syria, not to mention striking at its territory.
To our great regret, the latest incident is serious. It was a strike on a civilian airport, which put it out of service for several weeks and made it impossible to deliver humanitarian cargoes by air.
We sent a relevant note to Israel, emphasising the need for all countries to abide by Resolution 2254. We will continue upholding this position in our contacts with Israel and other countries that are involved in the Syrian settlement process in different ways.
You asked my colleague several questions, including one about the food crisis. I would like to emphasise again that there is no connection whatsoever between the special military operation in Ukraine and the food crisis. This is admitted even by US Government members and representatives of the international organisations dealing with food security. The crisis and the conditions for it were created several years ago. It didn’t start today or yesterday, but a couple of years ago when the Western countries embarked on imprudent, ill-considered, populist fiscal policies. President Vladimir Putin spoke about it in detail. I will not describe them at this point. I would merely stress that the efforts undertaken now by Turkey and the UN Secretary-General would have succeeded long ago if Ukraine and its Western patrons demined Black Sea ports. This issue is clear to any specialist. The attempts to establish an international coalition for these procedures are obviously aimed at interfering in the affairs of the Black Sea region under UN aegis. This is perfectly clear to us. There is no need for any complicated procedures. It is simply necessary to allow the ships locked by the Ukrainians in the mined ports of the Black Sea to leave. The main thing is to clear these ports of mines or provide clear passageways for them.
As for international waters, the Russian Federation guarantees the safe travel of these ships to the Strait of Bosporus. We have an understanding with the Republic of Turkey in this respect.
I will say again that the attempts to make a “worldwide tragedy” out of the amount of grain that remains in Ukraine are not above board. Everyone knows that this grain amounts to less than one percent of the global production of wheat and other grains.
Now it is important to compel the Ukrainians to let out the foreign ships that are being held hostage there. There is no need to turn this problem into a diversion to conceal the mistakes and failures of the West in its international policy on the food and fertiliser markets.
Question (retranslated from Farsi): A fortnight ago you mentioned a new political package from the US side. A week ago, Mr Zadeh said that “the train has not yet gone off the rails” and you said that in the future there was a possibility that negotiations could be resumed. Has anything changed recently?
Sergey Lavrov: If I understood the translation correctly, cooperation between Russia and Iran in the energy sector has a rich history and good prospects.
As far as bilateral cooperation is concerned, we have always found solutions to the problems that have arisen in this area because of the illegal actions of the United States and its satellites, who are trying to hinder the development of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s energy sector. At the present stage, they are trying to do the same with regard to oil and gas production and transportation in the Russian Federation. Our bilateral plans under consideration today are starting to take concrete form; they are beginning to be implemented. They are aimed at making sure that they do not depend in any way on the unlawful unilateral intervention of anybody else.
I can assure you: there is a reliable plan to work in this way. Together with Iran, we have traditionally worked together in the context of international efforts to stabilise the oil and gas market. There is a complete agreement within the OPEC+ group on the need to safeguard Iran’s interests in its future activities. We will be guided by this.
Question: Israel and the United States have announced a new regional air defence alliance in the Middle East to protect Israel and neighbours from Iranian rockets. How will this affect the Iran nuclear deal? Will Moscow and Tehran intensify military cooperation in this regard?
Sergey Lavrov: We are following statements made by our American colleagues, who are openly declaring their intention to try and forge a bloc between several Arab countries and Israel and target this new group against the Islamic Republic of Iran. I believe too much has already been said about the inconsistency of American foreign policy. I don’t want to repeat myself. But this idea is obviously at odds with their intention to normalise the situation in the region and resume full implementation of the JCPOA, through the efforts of the United States, if they are sincerely interested in this.
We prefer less contradictory arrangements, as compared to those the Americans are now promoting in various regions. Take their idea of the Indo-Pacific. It runs counter to every universal format that has developed over the years around ASEAN in the Asia-Pacific region. Those formats included the US, Russia, China, Australia, India, Japan and Korea. It was a process whereby all interests, primarily those of the regional players and their partners, were brought to a common denominator. Instead, having disrupted all the bodies created under the auspices of ASEAN, the Americans are promoting conflict-generating, divisive formats, without hiding that their policy is aimed at restraining China and isolating Russia.
The same logic is evident in the initiative to create an air and missile defence system in the Middle East. This is the logic of division and confrontation. We prefer unifying logic. The underlying principle of our initiative to build a collective security system in the Persian Gulf region is unification. The system we propose should provide a framework for the Arab countries to establish a dialogue with the Islamic Republic of Iran, work out joint measures of confidence and transparency, and take other steps to ensure stabilisation. Our idea is to involve the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the EU, the Arab League, the UN and the OIC to facilitate these processes. This is an example of how we consistently propose resolving any problems through combining efforts and finding a balance of interests.
The example we are now discussing, which involves the US initiative in the Middle East, is not a case of finding a balance of interests; it is a case of planting confrontation, and an attempt to create dividing lines that will be there forever. Needless to say, this is a dead-end position. In any case, in the end, everyone will come to understand the need to return to the underlying principles of the United Nations, such as resolving problems through cooperation, and not through the creation of hostile and aggressive blocs.
A top commander of the Al Qaeda FSA in the Daraa countryside, the former terrorist commander refused to join the reconciliation and refused to join his colleagues in Idlib.
Local sources from the town of Eastern Mleiha in the Daraa countryside said that Ismael Shokri Al Daraan was shot dead after attending a football (soccer) match in the town earlier today, he died instantly at the spot.
Despite cleaning most of the province of Daraa with its surrounding countryside, some terrorist commanders remain in the province causing insecurity and provoking panic among the civilians in a mostly tribal area, such terrorists as this Al Daraan are a constant source of fear and security breaches including assassinations, blowing up vehicles, looting properties, and smuggling drugs.
The local sources added that nobody claimed responsibility for Al Daraan’s elimination, the Syrian security would prefer to arrest him and extract useful information that would lead to dismantling a number of terrorist groups in the southern region of Syria, his death does not serve the overall security, however, nobody will feel sad for him.
Forces of the US army loyal to Joe Biden and of the British army working as mercenaries for the regime of Elizabeth the Second are illegally deployed in the Al Tanf area in the depth of the Syrian southeastern desert at the border’s conjunction with Iraq and Jordan, these forces have established a no-fly zone around their base in which terrorist groups gather, and train under the supervision of these foreign forces, then carry out their terrorist attacks against the people of the southern region, Al Daraan, his terrorist group, and a host of other terrorist groups with an ISIS-affiliated group relied heavily on supplies and protection from these two NATO forces operating against international law thousands of miles far from their home countries.
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عجزت أميركا التي قادت الحرب الكونية على سورية، عن تحقيق أهداف هذه الحرب التي اندلعت نارها منذ 11 عاماً وحشد لها خلال تلك المدة اكثر من 360 ألف مسلح وإرهابي من 83 دولة، وسخرت لأجلها المئات من المنصات العالمية المتنوّعة بين المكتوب والمرئي والمسموع واعتمدت فيها أساليب وأنواع الحروب من الجيل الثالث الى الخامس، ورغم كلّ ذلك فشلت تلك الحرب التي تحلّ الذكرى الحادية عشرة لإطلاقها بعد شهر من الآن. حرب فشلت في تحقيق أهدافها وتمكنت سورية بقواتها الذاتية أولاً ثم بمساعدة من الحلفاء في محور المقاومة ثم الأصدقاء الروس، تمكنت من صدّ العدوان واستعادت السيطرة الكاملة على معظم الأرض السورية (75٪ من مجمل المساحة السورية) وأن تتواجد بمستويات مختلفة في القسم الذي يمارس الاحتلال الأميركي او الاحتلال التركي السيطرة عليه، او في المنطقة التي أفسد الإرهاب أمنها او زوّرت النزعة الانفصالية الكردية هويتها.
ومع هذا النجاح المميّز وضعت الدولة السورية استراتيجية وطنية من أجل استكمال النجاح واستعادة او العودة الى الحياة الطبيعية بالمقدار الذي تتيحه الظروف المتشكلة. واقامت تلك الاستراتيجية على قوائم أربع سياسية وعسكرية ومجتمعية ـ مدنية واقتصادية.
ففي السياسة قامت الحكومة السورية بإجراء الانتخابات في مواعيدها رغم كلّ العراقيل التي وضعت أمامها، كما راعت انتظام الحياة القانونية في البلاد وانتظام الحضور الفاعل في المنظمات الدولية واتجهت لاستغلال أيّة فرصة تلوح لاستعادة العلاقات مع الدول العربية بخاصة المجاورة منها كلبنان والأردن والعراق، سعي جاء معطوفاً على مسعى جزائري لتهيئة البيئة المناسبة لعودة سورية لإشغال مقعدها في الجامعة العربية بدءاً من اجتماع القمة المرتقب انعقاده في الأشهر الثلاثة المقبلة.
وفي الشأن الأمني والعسكري حرصت الدولة السورية على الاستمرار في مدّ الجيش والقوات المسلحة الأخرى بكلّ أسباب القوة المادية والمعنوية من أجل استمرار النجاح في أداء المهام الوطنية واتجهت الى إجراء عملية تحشيد عسكري فاعل في محيط المناطق الخارجة عن سيطرة الدولة؛ عملية ترمي الى العمل على خطين خط المشاغلة العسكرية لتعهّد الميدان تحضيراً ليوم التحرير بالقوة ان فشلت مساعي التحرير الأخرى ودعماً للمقاومة الشعبية بوجهيها المدني والمسلح، والتي تشكلت في المناطق المحتلة.
أما على الصعيد المدني ـ المجتمعي والملاحقات القضائية فقد عملت سورية بقواعد العدالة الانتقالية والمتضمنة العفو والمصالحة وأطلقت ما أسمي «التسويات» لأوضاع الفارّين من الخدمة العسكرية او من وجه العدالة خاصة ممن لم تلوّث أيديهم بسفك الدم السوري. وقد نجح مسار التسوية هذا في استعادة أجزاء من الشعب خاصة الشباب منهم الى حضن الدولة فتوقفت الملاحقات بشأنهم ووفر ذلك للدولة أكثر من منفعة ومصلحة وحرم أعداء سورية من مصدر مهم لتحشيد المقاتلين ضدّ دولتهم.
ويبقى الشأن الاقتصادي الذي شكل الخاصرة الرخوة في الوضع السوري بسبب الحرب الاقتصادية الظالمة والإرهاب الاقتصادي الوحشي الذي تمارسه أميركا ومَن معها ضدّ سورية، وتحاول سورية استعمال المتاح من الإمكانات وما يتوفر لها من مساعدات من الحلفاء والأصدقاء تحاول وضع الخطط الاقتصادية التي تتكيّف مع الواقع الصعب القائم تكيفا يخفف أولاً من سلبياتها ثم يخرجها منه بعد حين.
في مقابل الاستراتيجية الوطنية التي أطلقتها سورية لاستعادة الحياة الطبيعية في البلاد بعد انكسار وهزيمة من شنّ الحرب الكونية عليها. في مقابل ذلك يبدو أنّ أميركا التي تكابر وترفض الإقرار بالهزيمة رغم انّ إعلامها يصرّح بذلك، يبدو أنها وضعت استراتيجية عدوانية مضادة بدأت ملامحها تتبيّن في الميدان وهي استراتيجية عدوان متجدّد، وصحيح أنها لا تتمادى لتصل بأهدافها الى حجم أهداف الحرب الكونية الأساس التي رمت الى إسقاط الدولة السورية كلياً وتفكيكها ثم إعادة تركيبها بما يناسب المشروع الصهيوأميركي في المنطقة، استراتيجية ترمي الى منع سورية من استثمار انتصارها والحؤول دون عودتها للحياة الطبيعية.
وعليه يبدو أنّ أميركا اعتمدت في سورية استراتيجية عدوان يمكن تعريفها بانها «استراتيجية استمرار العدوان وتعهد الإرهاب لمنع العودة للحياة الطبيعية» وهي تنفذ على الوجه التالي:
ـ على الصعيد السياسي ترمي الى الحدّ من تفعيل علاقات سورية بالخارج دولاً ومنظمات، ولذلك نجد كيف انّ أميركا عبر قطر تعارض عودة سورية الى مقعدها في الجامعة العربية وتراوغ لتعرقل العلاقات السورية مع دول الجوار. والمثل الأخير هنا عرقلة مسعى لبنان للاستفادة من الغاز المصري والكهرباء الأردنية رغم كلّ الوعود الأميركية التي أطلقت منذ عدة أشهر.
ـ أما على الصعيد الاقتصادي فهي تستمرّ بالتشدّد في الحرب الاقتصادية تحت عنوان «قانون قيصر» وتتوخى مزيداً من الضغط على الشعب السوري حتى لا يثق بحكومته او يعود للميدان احتجاجاً على النقص في الخدمات. فالحرب الاقتصادية هي ركن أساس من أركان العدوان الأميركي المستمر على سورية.
ـ اما التسويات المدنية القضائية فإنّ أميركا تنظر اليها بعين الخشية والرفض لأنها ترسي دعائم السلام المدني بين الشعب والدولة وتستعيد من غرّر بهم او أخطأوا بحق وطنهم تستعيدهم الى الوطن ليساهموا في إعماره من جهة، ويفقدوا أعداءه منجماً ومصدر تحشيد وتجنيد لذلك تعمل أميركا بشتى الطرق لعرقلة مسار التسويات تحت شعار «الحرب لم تنته بعد». وهو كلام يجافي الواقع.
ـ على الصعيد الأمني والعسكري، اتجهت أميركا الى تفعيل تنظيم داعش الإرهابي وأعادت انتشار عناصره بعد ان أطلقت العدد الكثير منهم من سجن الصناعة في الحسكة، ونقلت المئات من إرهابيّيه بطائراتها ونشرتهم في ميادين إرهاب محدّدة من قبلها في العراق وسورية ثم قامت بمسرحية قتل القرشي زعيم داعش في عملية عسكرية لم يطلع على تفاصيلها أحد من غير الأميركيين مما جعل الكثيرين من العقلاء يشككون بحدوث القتل ويتجهون للقول بانّ أميركا أرادت ان تسجل انتصاراً وتظهر عزماً على قتال داعش فنظمت هذه المسرحية الوهمية وهي تشتهر بالتلفيق وإخراج المسرحيات الوهمية.
إنّ الموضوع الأمني هو الآن الى جانب الإرهاب الاقتصادي هو الركن الأساس في استراتيجية العدوان الأميركي، وهو موضوع بدأت أميركا بالعمل عليه وتنفيذه منذ ثلاثة اشهر تقريباً وبات في مراحل متقدمة ويهدف الى زعزعة الأمن والاستقرار في المناطق المطهّرة وإشغال القوى العسكرية والأمنية السورية لمنعها من استكمال عمليات التطهير والتحرير لما تبقى من أرض سورية، وتعطيل الحياة وعجلة الإنتاج في المناطق التي تحكم الدولة سيطرتها عليها خاصة في المدن الكبرى، ولذلك جاء التحذير الروسي من هذا الأمر تحذيراً صدر عن المخابرات الروسية التي اعتمدت هذا الأسلوب في الإعلان لتبلغ أميركا بأنّ خططها الإرهابية العدوانية هي تحت مراقبة العين الأمنية الدفاعية السورية والحليفة.
أمام هذا المشهد يطرح السؤال ماذا تتوخى أميركا من خططها الإجرامية تلك؟ وهي تعرف انّ هجومها الأساسي الذي كان قد حشدت له كمّاً أكبر من المشاركين وسخرت له الأموال الأكثر ونفذته قواعد أوسع من الإرهابيين ورغم ذلك لم ينجح في إسقاط سورية، فما الذي تبتغيه الآن من استئناف العدوان المتجدد؟
لا نظنّ انّ أميركا تريد في نهجها الجديد «إعادة إحياء ما تسمّيه الثورة السورية» وهي أعجز من ذلك ولا يمكن ان تتصوّر أنها بهذه الاستراتيجية وفي ظلّ المشهد الدولي المتغيّر لغير صالحها فضلاً عن المناعة السورية الأساسية والمكتسبة قادرة على تعويض ما فاتها في الحرب الكونية الفاشلة، يبقى أن نظنّ او نعتقد بأنّ أميركا تريد من فعلها العدواني المتجدّد بالصيغة المتقدّم ذكرها تبتغي ان تبعد عن نفسها أولاً كأس الهزيمة في سورية لأنها لا تحتمل ذلك الآن بعد الخروج المهين من أفغانستان، ثم تريد أن تشغل سورية وحلفاءها بورقة ضغط عليهم لإعطائها شيئاً ما في المشهد السوري، فأميركا تريد أن تمتلك أوراق ضغط للتنازل السوري ولا نعتقد أنها تطمح بتحويلها الى عناصر تغيير وانتصار استراتيجي ضدّ سورية وحلفائها الذين يعملون مطمئنين لإنجازاتهم ولمستقبلهم الواعد خلال الأشهر الآتية… أشهر لن تحمل لأميركا ما يسرّها في الميدان او السياسة.
Remnants of ISIS and Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists assassinated the mayor of Al Nuaymah (Elnaymah) town in the eastern countryside of Daraa earlier in the morning today, Thursday, other members of his family were injured in the attack.
Local sources and the reporter of the Syrian news agency Sana confirmed the killing of Alaa Abboud (38 years old) by a bomb planted in his vehicle near the Al-Khirbeh roundabout in the city of Daraa, the center of the province of Daraa.
Family members of the slain mayor were rushed to the National Hospital in Daraa for treatment from injuries they sustained in the heinous attack.
Biden forces illegally deployed in the Al Tanf area in the depth of the Syrian desert at the joint borders with Iraq and Jordan, in addition to holding hundreds of Syrian families in the infamous Rukban concentration camp, continue to sponsor the remnants of ISIS terrorists, especially the so-called Maghawir Thawra, and other Al Qaeda terrorists, the locals who refused to join the reconciliation and foreigners brought into Syria by the CIA through Jordan and Turkey.
The same Biden forces impose a 50 kilometers no-fly zone around their illegal base in which these ISIS terrorists take refuge and launch their terrorist operations against the Syrian people, state officials, and Syrian army soldiers in the southern and central region of the country.
The terrorist group and the US army bragged about carrying out a joint military drill in early December last year!
Today’s assassination of Alaa Al Abboud is the 21st assassination targeting mayors and members of the local city and town councils in the Syrian southern province of Daraa since 2018 when the Russian Reconciliation Center oversaw a reconciliation process that allowed the liberation of most of the province from terrorists without shedding blood in major military operations, however, the rest of the province was liberated by military pressure in September this year.
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News Update from the provinces of Daraa, Raqqa, and Hasakah for today the 6th of October 2021.
NATO armies and proxy terrorists were active today in the southern province of Daraa and in the northern provinces of Raqqa and Hasakah, while the terrorists in Idlib, the last stronghold of Al Qaeda, continue breaching the Idlib ceasefire agreement signed by their leader the Turkish madman Erdogan and the Russian President Putin.
Daraa – SANA, two policemen were assassinated in the vicinity of the town of Izraa, in Daraa’s northern countryside. Honorary Lieutenant Walid Adnan Al-Othman and Honorary Lieutenant Abd Allah Khalil Al-Izzo were heading home when they were shot by armed terrorists. The assassins, highly trained and armed as it appears, shot the officers with multiple bullets and directly to the head.
The bodies of the slain policemen heroes were taken to the National Hospital in Daraa. These sporadic terrorist attacks will continue in the southern region as long as the United States maintains its illegal military base in Al-Tanf where it provides protection to the remnants of ISIS terrorists, in addition to arming and training them to the extent of carrying out a joint military drill with an ISIS-affiliated terrorist group that goes by the name Maghawir Thawra.
Meanwhile, the Syrian law enforcement authorities continue cleaning Daraa northern countryside from the terrorists and collecting the weapons from the former terrorists who decided to lay down their arms and return to their normal lives through the reconciliation process.
Former members of terrorist groups in Daraa join the reconciliation and lay down their weapons
The reconciliation process in the city of Inkhil is going on smoothly for the 2nd day with dozens of young men, most of these individuals were forced to join the terrorist groups under threats against their families and who didn’t commit any crime against the Syrian army or against the people.
Hasakah, the Turkish occupation army along with its Al Qaeda proxy terrorists shelled with artillery and missiles the villages of Tal Kifji and Dardara of the Tal Tamr region in the Hasakah countryside. The shelling inflicted heavy material damage in the targeted villages.
Erdogan continues to work on his project to Israelize the northern region by uprooting the Syrian people from their homes and towns to replace them with terrorists loyal to him and their families, most of who he brought from the Uighur in western China and from the former Soviet Republic of Central Asia.
The Kurdish SDF separatist terrorists are also working hard to Israelize as many territories as they can despite the confirming reports they will lose their US protection by the year-end.
Raqqa, a group from the Turkish-sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists blew up an armored vehicle of the US-sponsored Kurdish SDF terrorists in the vicinity of Ain Issa in the northern Raqqa countryside.
Conflicting reports from the area stated that 4 members of the Kurdish SDF terrorists who were in the vehicle were either killed or injured. None of the NATO media reports the truth because there is no party they are held responsible before for the crimes of their terrorists.
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Jordan is re-opening its border crossing with Syria and resuming flights to Damascus. In Syria, more armed groups lay down their weapons but while these positive developments occur, the US hunkers down to inflict more pain.
On September 29, Jordan’s Nassib border crossing to Syria re-opened, meaning a resumption not only of travel but of trade between the two nations. In early October, Royal Jordanian will start flying again to Syria’s capital.
Jordan's state carrier, Royal Jordanian, will resume direct flights to Damascus from Oct. 3 for the first time in nearly a decade in the latest step to restore extensive business ties with Syria hurt by the conflict, officials said.https://t.co/O50nKhlqv5
In Syria’s south, after years of the government and allied attempts to restore full peace, the last armed groups have finally laid down their weapons in Dara’a, which journalist Vanessa Beeley wrote about after her recent return there.
And while the Biden administration recently changed talking heads for a Syria related diplomatic position, little else has altered regarding America’s position on Syria.
Sanctions against the Syrian people have continued under Biden, and the at least 900 US troops illegally occupying Syria remain.
In their September 13 meeting in Moscow, Presidents Assad and Putin made clear that while Syria continues to work towards restoring stability, doing so has been hampered by the presence of foreign troops not invited by the Syrian government and not under a mandate of the UN.
While speaking diplomatically, it is clear they meant the US and Turkish troops occupying areas of Syria, which—along with the proxy forces they support—bring the opposite of peace to Syrians.
Yet, type “Syria” into your search engine of choice and you will still come across screaming headlines of inexplicable “violence” in Syria, and that Syria is “not safe” for the return of refugees. Many of these recent claims emanate from a recent update from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
But this is not true. In fact since September 2015, nearly 1 million Syrians have returned to Syria, with another nearly 1.4 million internally displaced refugees re-settling, according to the September 27, 2021 bulletin of the Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Control of the Movement of Refugees.
What the delusional articles, omit are the real factors that make life in Syria difficult, and dangerous: the continued presence of al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Idlib, terrorizing the population and firing on civilian areas in surrounding Hama and Aleppo provinces; and the deadly Western sanctions against Syrians, among still other preventable factors.
Starving and thieving Syria
The latest from the UN commission refers to the fuel shortages and food insecurity without a mention of the many brutal Western sanctions against Syrians, once again showing the supposed impartiality of the UN is non-existent.
I have written repeatedly about the deadly impact of sanctions, noting that they impact Syria’s ability to import medicines or the raw materials needed to manufacture them, medical equipment, machines and materials needed to for prosthetics, among other things.
The food insecurity mentioned by the UN commission comes as a direct result of sanctions which, “cripple a state’s economy; disrupt the availability of food, medicines, drinking water, and sanitation supplies; interfere with the functioning of health and education systems; and undermine people’s ability to work.”
Deliberating causing the devaluing of the Syrian pound (as US envoy James Jeffrey boasted about) is not targeting the Syrian government, it is targeting the Syrian people. Western leadership have blatantly said sanctions will continue until Assad is deposed.
More recently, journalist Dan Kovalik was in Syria. He noted that, “10 years ago, abject poverty in Syria affected less than one percent of the population. By 2015, this had risen to 35 percent of the population. The rise in food prices – up 209 percent in the last year – is also noted.”
Indeed, the comparison of pre-war Syria and lack of abject poverty then rings true to what Syrians have told me over and over again in my visits to their country since 2014: that they were living well, in safety, and in harmony.
As for the increasingly debilitating effects of the sanctions, I saw life get increasingly more expensive. Syrians got more desperate during the 6 months I spent there last year, and again even more so this May and June, with skyrocketing prices meaning Syrians, in spite of working multiple jobs, can’t afford to put food on the table.
Under the Biden administration, the illegal US forces continue to pillage Syrian oil. Last year, I wrote about this theft of around $30 million a month. In March 2021, Syria’s petroleum minister compared the illegal US forces to “pirates” for plundering Syria’s oil, saying the US occupation inflicted over $92 billion in damage on Syria’s petroleum sector.
Turkish-backed terrorists imprison, torture and kill civilians (including children) in northeastern Syria, with Turkish forces themselves routinely shelling Syrian villages. Meanwhile, before his meeting with President Putin, Turkey’s Erdogan sent still thousands more troops into Syria.
These are all factors contributing further to Syrians’ hellish circumstances and poverty, as well as factors omitted by most media and UN reports on Syria.
Peace-bringing reconciliation initiatives ignored
When armed groups reconcile with the state, laying down their weapons, they’re largely ignored by Western leaders, media and the UN.
Indeed, the same UN report mentioned earlier claimed that under Assad’s leadership there seems to be, “no moves to unite the country or seek reconciliation.”
Reconciliations have been ongoing since the Reconciliation ministry was established in 2012. Although the process is not perfect—the state cannot guarantee that armed groups who promise to cease violence against the state and population will adhere to their word—it is still the most peaceful option of enabling armed Syrian men to reintegrate into society, if they so choose.
How would America deal with such men on US soil? Kill them without blinking, most likely.
I interviewed the Minister of Reconciliation in 2014 and 2017, after the successes of returning peace to Homs, Aleppo, Madaya, al-Waer, among others.
The objectives of Reconciliation are the obvious restoration of security and enabling Syrians to return to their lives. But also, according to Minister Haidar, helping Syrians resolve their suffering in all respects: “Their security and safety, the economy, social services, education, the large number of martyrs and injured, the kidnapped, the missing, the internally-displaced… We are trying to find a solution to each one of these cases. That is the deepest meaning of ‘reconciliation’: to return people to their normal lives.”
In our 2017 conversation, I asked the Minister whether Syria had any outside support for Reconciliation. Only, he said, from countries who are friends of Syria.
He said even the UN wasn’t interested.
“The UN during this period was siding with the Western policies, and not mentioning the achievement that the Syrian government has reached from these efforts. Western governments were against this project because it considered it a victory for the Syrian government and a major pillar for the unity of the Syrian people and the Syrian territories.”
At the end of our conversation, he made one particularly poignant point: “Most of the people that support the reconciliation process are the martyred’s families. For example, I was in a Latakia suburb and there I met a mother of four martyrs. She said, ‘I lost 4 children and I don’t want other mothers to suffer what I suffered.’”
Incidentally, the minister is also father of a martyr: His son was gunned down by terrorists in 2012, in what Haidar described as an attempt to assassinate himself.
Dara’a, a long-awaited reconciliation
The UN commission called the restoration of peace to Dara’a al-Balad an unfolding tragedy. That’s right, it is utterly tragic that armed extremists who have shelled, killed and maimed civilians for years are finally laying down their weapons.
As Vanessa Beeley wrote, “The armed groups that had committed multiple war crimes and atrocities against Syrian civilians and anti-terrorism armed forces had no intention of relinquishing their campaign of retaliatory crimes against anyone they considered to be loyal to the Syrian government and state. A vicious offensive was unleashed by these extremist gangs formerly associated with terrorist Al Qaeda and ISIS factions in the southern region.”
Further, it is truly tragic (sarcasm) that those terrorists can no longer shell and snipe the state hospital, preventing civilians from getting medical care, as they have done for years.
As I wrote, in May 2018 before Daraa was fully liberated, in a hired taxi I went to areas which were under fire from terrorists, and took a perilous high speed ride to the state hospital, down a road exposed to terrorist sniping from less than 100 metres away.
The hospital was battered and partially destroyed from terrorists’ mortars, and mostly empty of patients. The director showed me destroyed wards and off-limits areas due to high risk of snipers.
Al-Qaeda's rescuers never speak of their buddies' bombs on Dara'a streets, including the day I visited in May 2018. Dara'a hospital is battered from their "freedom" bombs and is extremely dangerous to get to, due to snipers. Nope, just hysterical accusations, as per norm. https://t.co/50dq5FlcBw
Al-Qaeda's rescuers never speak of their buddies' bombs on Dara'a streets, including the day I visited in May 2018. Dara'a hospital is battered from their "freedom" bombs and is extremely dangerous to get to, due to snipers. Nope, just hysterical accusations, as per norm. https://t.co/50dq5FlcBw
In that article I noted that upon my return months later, I was able to see just how close the near terrorist headquarters had been to the hospital: 50 metres away, hence the extreme risk of being shot while inside the hospital.
So yes, UN and Western media, shed your tears that another reign of terror has come to an end.
And keep ignoring the brutal Western sanctions as you churn out more war propaganda against the Syrian people and ignore positive developments on the ground. Because you care so much for the Syrian people…
في زيارة غير معلنة مسبقاً، الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين يعقد اجتماعاً مع نظيره السوري بشار الأسد في العاصمة الروسية موسكو.
بوتين يستقبل الأسد في الكرملين
أفاد الكرملين، صباح اليوم الثلاثاء، بأن الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين عقد اجتماعاً مع نظيره السوري بشار الأسد الذي وصل إلى العاصمة الروسية موسكو في زيارة غير معلنة مسبقاً.
وأشار بوتين خلال اللقاء إلى أن “الرئيس السوري يفعل الكثير لإقامة حوار مع المعارضين السياسيين”.
كما هنأ بوتين الأسد بـ”النتائج الجيدة للانتخابات الرئاسية”، قائلاً إن هذه النتائج “تؤكد أن السوريين يثقون بك، وعلى الرغم من كل الصعوبات والمآسي التي شهدتها السنوات السابقة، فإنهم يُعوّلون عليك في عملية العودة إلى الحياة الطبيعية”.
وأضاف الرئيس الروسي: “بجهودنا المشتركة وجهنا ضربة للإرهابيين”، لافتاً إلى أن “الجيش السوري يسيطر على أكثر من 90% من أراضي البلاد، رغم بقاء عدد من بؤر الإرهاب قائمة”.
وأشار إلى أن المشكلة الأساسية لسوريا هي الوجود غير الشرعي للقوات الأجنبية على أراضيها، معتبراً أن “هذا يعيق التقدم على طريق تعزيز وحدة البلاد”.
ولفت بوتين إلى أن التبادل التجاري بين روسيا وسوريا ازداد بمقدار 3.5 مرة في النصف الأول من العام الجاري، كما أنه تم تسليم أولى شحنات لقاحات “سبوتنيك V” و”سبوتنيك لايت” لسوريا.
وبحسب الكرملين، توجه الرئيس الأسد لبوتين بالقول إن “جيشي البلدين أسهما كثيراً في حماية البشرية من شرّ الإرهاب الدولي”، مضيفاً أن “بعض الدول لها تأثير مدمر على إمكانية إجراء العمليات السياسية بكل الطرق”.
وأضاف الأسد أن الجيشين السوري والروسي حققا نتائج مهمة في تحرير الأراضي وتدمير الإرهاب، وساهما بعودة اللاجئين الذين أجبروا على مغادرة منازلهم.
واعتبر أن “الإرهاب الدولي لا يعرف حدوداً وينتشر مثل العدوى في جميع أنحاء العالم”، مشدداً على أن “الجيشين أسهما إسهاماً كبيراً في قضية حماية البشرية جمعاء من الإرهاب”.
الرئيس السوري أكد أن “أعمالنا السياسية سواء كانت في سوتشي أو في أستانة ساهمت أيضاً في تطبيع الحياة في سوريا”، مشيراً إلى أن “بعض الدول التي لها تأثير مدمر على إمكانية إجراء العمليات السياسية بكل طريقة”.
ووصف الأسد العقوبات المفروضة على سوريا بأنها “لا إنسانية ولا شرعية”، شاكراً “روسيا وشعبها على المساعدة الإنسانية التي يقدمها الاتحاد الروسي إلى سوريا”.
لقد خطّ الأستاذ غسان بن جدو والسيد حسن نصر الله في حوار العام مساراً هاماً للتوثيق الشفوي لا بدّ من متابعته واستكماله ليكون القاسم المشترك بين السياسة والإعلام والتاريخ وثقافة الحاضر والمستقبل.
أن تجلس أمام الشاشة شاخصاً وناصتاً لقرابة أربع ساعات ولا تريد حتى لصوت الرياح أن يزعج خلوتك مع ما يقال، ولا لأحد أن يدب قربك لأي سبب كان؛ فهذا يعني أنك تنصت لما يلامس شغاف قلبك وعصارة عقلك ووجدانك وبأسلوب سلس وهادئ ومريح لا ادعاء فيه ولا محاولة لإبراز حجم مساهمة المتكلم أو المحاور أو تسليط الضوء على ما قد يزيد من مكانة أو مساهمة أي منهما.
بل كان التركيز والتصويب كله على توثيق حقائق ومعطيات أتت بالكثير من الجديد هدفها الأساس إنصاف الناس قادة كانوا أم شهداء أم جنوداً أم مجموعات مغمورة لم يذكرها أحد، والنتيجة الجميلة كانت توثيقاً شفوياً لذاكرة قائد في الميدان يقارع، ولا يزال، تحالف الشر بين أعداء الأمة وبين المستسلمين الخانعين على مدى سنوات وهو يعمل مع الأصدقاء والإخوة والرفاق عملاً أهمّ ما يميّزه الصدق والغيرية وإنكار الذات ووضع مصير الأوطان والشعوب فوق كلّ اعتبار.
شعرتُ وأنا أحضر هذا الحوار أنني لا أريده أن يصل إلى النهاية أبداً بل أتمنى أن يتطرق إلى كلّ الأوضاع في العالم لأستزيد من خبايا خبرة هذا الذي يحمل اسمه إرث الرسالة والذي يدلي باتصالاته ومعلوماته عن القادة والرفاق وسير العمل على أكثر من صعيد وفي أكثر من بلد في هذه الساحة الإقليمية الصعبة والمعقدة والتي يعصف بها أحياناً عاملون في الطابور الخامس ليذرّوا الرماد في العيون ويمنعوا الحقيقة عن المتسائلين والتوّاقين لمعرفة الحقيقة وجوهرها.
استزدنا من السيد نصرالله عن شخصية فارس من فرسان المقاومة تحلّى بكلّ صفات الفارس النبيلة والأخلاقية والإنسانية الراقية الشفافة؛ فكما كان صلباً وعنيداً في مقارعة الأعداء كان مرهفاً في مقاربة آلام الآخرين ومتواضعاً جداً في تعامله مع الناس وفي نظرته إلى نفسه؛ فجسّد بخلقه وعمله الآية الكريمة “وعباد الرحمن يمشون على الأرض هوناً وإذا خاطبهم الجاهلون قالوا سلاماً”.
وكلما أُفرد ملف عن هذا الفارس اكتشفنا زاوية من شخصيته وعمله وخلقه ونبله لَم نكُن لننفذ إليها من قبل لولا حوار السيد هذا.
هذا التوثيق في غاية الأهمية لأنه الإرث الذي نتركه للأجيال، والثقافة التي نغذيهم بها وننشئهم عليها؛ فإذا كان الشهيد قاسم سليماني الرجل الذي لا بديل عنه فإن إرثه العسكري والسياسي والأخلاقي والإنساني حكماً لا بديل عنه ويجب أن يعكف الدارسون على توثيقه وتوصيفه ووضعه في متناول الأجيال القادمة كي يساهم في تشكيل وعيها عن الماضي ويساعدها على اجتراح الوسائل المناسبة لمواجهة أعاصير الحاضر واحتمالات المستقبل. هذا الإرث هو السلاح الأمضى كي نقوّض خطوات الأعداء الذين ظنوا أنهم بتنفيذهم هذا العمل الإرهابي المجرم يستطيعون القضاء على هذا المسار النبيل.
الشهيد قاسم سليماني لم يعد رجلاً عادياً بل أصبح مساراً وثقافة وأسلوباً وقدوة، وعلينا ترسيخ هذا النموذج بكلّ الوسائل الممكنة من توثيق وتوضيح وشروحات كي يشكل عضداً لثقافة المقاومة التي هي الضمانة الوحيدة لاستمرار الأجيال على هذا النهج إلى أن يتحقق تحرير الأرض ويتم بناء الأنموذج الذي يضمن حرية الأرض والإنسان وزرع القيم والتي هي أخشى ما يخشاه العدو لأن الصراع الحقيقي هو على القيم والأخلاق والمسار الإنساني الذي تتبناه الشعوب، والصراع هذا هو صراع بالفعل وهو الصراع القديم الحديث بين الحقّ والباطل والخير والشرّ وبين من يقدّس إنسانية الإنسان ومن يسعى لانتهاكها وظلمها كي يراكم ثرواته.
في هذا التوثيق الحصيف الانسيابي الهام جداً تطرّق السيد إلى ما اعترى سوريا وإلى الأشهر الأولى من الحرب الكونية على الشعب السوري فبدّد الأوهام وكذّب السفهاء والمتاجرين بدماء وحيوات شعوبهم؛ إذ ذكر حقيقة في غاية الأهمية وهي أن السيد الرئيس بشار الأسد ومنذ البداية سأل ما هو المطلوب وأنا جاهز للحوار، وأضاف السيد نصرالله أن الأصدقاء في الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية استنفروا للاتصال، كلٌّ بأصدقائه ومعارفه، لكي يبدأ النقاش والحوار حول المطلوب وتعقد الطاولات المستديرة حول المهام المطلوبة لإخماد نار الفتنة وإنقاذ البلاد، ولكن الجواب الذي عاد به الجميع هو أن الطرف المدعي يؤمن أن النظام في طريقه إلى الانهيار وأنهم سوف ينتظرون إلى أن ينهار هذا النظام ولا مصلحة لهم في الدخول في مفاوضات أو نقاشات أو حوار معه الآن.
هذا يتقاطع، وهذا للتاريخ أيضاً، مع الدور المتواضع الذي كلفني به سيادة الرئيس مع بعض الشخصيات هنا داخل سوريا لنتحدث مع من يعتبرون أنفسهم ممثلي المعارضة ونرى ما هي طروحاتهم وماذا يريدون أن يبحثوا وما هي في نظرهم النقاط التي ترضي الجميع وتنقذ البلد من أي احتمالات خطرة أو سيناريوهات مغرضة.
وقد قابلنا كل من كان يقود ما أسموه “حراكاً” في المراحل الأولى، وامتدت اللقاءات لساعات وأيام كانوا يركزون خلالها على سرد تاريخي لأي تجاوزات حصلت منذ عشرات السنين حتى من قبل مسؤولين غادروا البلد ولم يعودوا إليه، ونحن نحاول إعادة البوصلة إلى الوقت الراهن ونقول دعونا من كلّ هذا ونركز على ما يتوجب فعله اليوم كي نتعاون أنتم ونحن في وضع الأمور في نصابها الصحيح ولا نعرّض شعبنا وبلدنا لما قد لا تحمد عقباه.
ولكن القرار الذي فهمناه من كلّ هؤلاء في ختام كلّ حوار هو أنهم يفضّلون الانتظار وكان واضحاً أنهم كانوا ينتظرون وعداً وعهداً من أعداء سوريا بقلب الطاولة لصالحهم لأن أسيادهم كانوا قد روّجوا عبر وسائل الإعلام أن المسالة مسألة وقت قصير وبذلك شجعوا على الانشقاقات وعلى أن تأخذ هذه المعارضات المواقف المؤدية إلى تدمير مؤسسات البلد ومنشآته أملاً منهم في تحقيق الموعود واعتلائهم سدة الحكم كما وعدهم أسيادهم بذلك وكما جرت الأمور في بلدان أخرى كتونس وليبيا والعراق.
هذا التوضيح من قبل السيد نصرالله ومن قبل من عمل في الداخل في غاية الأهمية، لأنه يؤرّخ لمرحلة قد تبدو ضبابية لأجيال المستقبل، ويجيب عن أسئلة جوهرية شغلت بال الكثيرين هنا في سوريا: هل كان من الممكن تفادي الكارثة؟ وهل كان إبداء مرونة أكبر سيجبر الآخرين على التراجع عن تحالفهم مع أعداء سوريا وعن مخططاتهم والعمل مع دولتهم وشعبهم على احتواء الحراك في بداياته؟
هذه الأسئلة وغيرها كثير مما يطلقه المغرضون تمت الإجابة عليها وبشكل واضح وصريح من قبل شاهد كان على تماس مباشر مع السيد الرئيس بشار الأسد ومن قبل قائد معنيّ بالمقاومة في لبنان وسوريا والعراق وإيران، ومن قبل إنسان يشهد له العدو قبل الصديق بالصدق المطلق في كلّ ما ينطق به لأنه مسؤول أمام الله قبل أن يكون مسؤولاً أمام البشر. والسؤال: كيف يمكن تطوير وتكثيف هذا النوع من الحوارات التوثيقية مع مسؤولين في المنطقة وخارجها بحيث يتم تسجيل هذا التاريخ من أفواه من صنعوه وقادوه وصاغوه، وبعد ذلك ينشغل الكتاب والباحثون والإعلاميون بترتيب وتصنيف هذه المعلومات لتشكل إضافة نوعية لثقافة المقاومة في المنطقة ولتورث الأجيال القادمة تاريخها الحقيقي وتمكنها من التصدّي لكل حملات التشويه والترويج للأعداء والخصوم؟
هذه الحملات التي تعتمد على اختلاق الأكاذيب والمراهنة على سرعة وتيرة الحياة وعدم صبر الكاتب والمتلقي. لقد خطّ الأستاذ غسان بن جدو والسيد حسن نصر الله في حوار العام مساراً هاماً جداً للتوثيق الشفوي لا بدّ من متابعته ووضع الأطر المنهجية والخارطة الشاملة لاستكماله ليكون القاسم المشترك بين السياسة والإعلام والتاريخ وثقافة الحاضر والمستقبل.
It is a dirty war that has been going on in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Almost nine and a half tragic years have passed. The three countries were subjected to all kinds of terror and brutally destroyed. Actually, what has been going on is a world war! All weapons were used and tested and many countries were involved.
It was a real dirty war, in which the West and the Americans and their allies in the region have used the worst kind of men: a group of collaborators and barbaric terrorists.
The worst kinds of mercenaries from all over the world were sent to Syria. They practices the ugliest inhumane deeds: they decapitated heads, literally ate hearts, and burned people alive to death.
These groups were directly led by generals from the U.S., France, and Turkey. This information was supported by different informed resources that reported capturing French, British, and Turkish officers since 2015, in particular, during the invasion of Idlib. The district was invaded by a tenth of thousands of terrorists from Nusra, especially its group Fateh al-Sham which is directly supported and trained by Turkey, and Ahrar al-Sham which was directly supported by the Americans. The invasion was directly led by the Turkish tank battalions and the NATO alliances.
By December 2015, the northeast of Syria was also invaded by another terrorist group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. ISIS was created with the utmost attention of Hilary Clinton, during Barak Obama’s administration. This was revealed by Donald Trump during his election campaign in 2016. ISIS swept over the al-Jazeera region and extended to Palmira through the Syrian Desert and occupied Homos, the biggest Syrian district. It was directly protected by the American extending military bases in northern Syria and the eastern base in al-Tanf. ISIS attacked both the Syrian government forces and the opposition factions.
The plan was to allow ISIS invasion of northern-eastern Syria territories and western-northern Iraqi territories in order to terminate the opposition factions in the region. It was carefully planned by Obama’s administration and in particular his vice president Joe Biden, the new president of the United States of America.
Under the pretense of fighting terrorism, the Americans were back in Iraq and restored bases in Iraq, built new ones in Syria and reestablished new militia groups in the area of the northeast, mainly Kurdish groups. They were trained and equipped by the Americans. For the U.S., it was a necessary step to launch a Kurdish federalism on the Syrian territories.
Nonetheless, the U.S. had set the return plan before withdrawing from Iraq in 2010. Upon its departure, the American administration empowered the al-Qaeda group in Iraq, and supported its existence, as Trump declared and accused Hillary Clinton of being the mastermind behind it. ISIS was basically the American approach to siege Syria, and eventually, apply the plan of division in the region and establish a Kurdish state.
Saying that may seem to be naive and simple. However, executing the plan required initiating “revolutions” in other Arab countries, recruiting media specialists, recruiting special personnel to initiate eruptions by social media, and consuming billions of dollars in the process, of which the Saudi kingdom and Qatar were the main contributors.
In 1992, I was on a visit to al-Hassaka and al-Qamishli. I was just a young beginner in journalism. I was conducting an investigation report about the Yazidis. At that stage, a large number of Yazidis and Kurds were immigrating to Syria. They escaped the biased and brutal treatment of Saddam Hussein and the fanatic Turks. These Kurds were building a wide network in Europe. They bought sympathy and support to establish a federation in Iraq in 1996. The process was facilitated by the Americans after the second Persian Gulf War in 1991 as Saddam’s power was fading.
The idea of having a similar kind of federation in Syria became appealing to both the Americans and Israelis. The size of Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad’s presence in the Iraqi Kurdistan is not a secret anymore. It is an established fact. The Americans also facilitated the Israeli presence in northeast Syria, especially those who came with American nationality to work in the oil fields.
The Turkish president Erdogan was one of the supporters of the American plan to dismantle Syria. Erdogan was able to recruit Qatar to the best interest of Turkey. Both countries were discontent with the Syrian government’s refusal to allow building the Qatari gas pipeline to Turkey through its territories. Syria saw that a move that would discomfort its allies in Russia and Iran. However, Erdogan had bigger plans in Syria. In the northwest region, Erdogan mainly saw the Idlib and Aleppo districts as the extent of Turkey, and a head starts to initiate the Ottoman dream.
This dream vanished to thin air when Syria started liberating the area occupied by ISIS in West Euphrates, and al-Gab plain after cleaning the Damascus area, Homos, and the center of Syria from terrorism with unlimited support from Russia. The second shock Erdogan received when the Americans started supporting the establishment of the Kurdish federation in al-Hassaka.
The Kurdish militia was founded in October 2015 under the name Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF]. SDF in its formation includes Kurds from Syria and others who came mainly from Turkey and other countries, most of them do not speak Arabic, unlike the Syrian Kurds. 60% of the militia includes Arab Syrians, according to the Pentagon. There are other nationalities included among the formation of SDF, who are Turkmens, Armenians, Circassians, and Chechens, who came from all over Asia.
In 2016, SDF updated its constitution from a separate federal state into an Autonomous Administration of Northern and East Syria [NES] and declared SDF as its official defense force, which complicated the Syrian political scene, furthermore. Now NES or SDF are cooperating with the official American forces in east-north of Syria and serve as “the Southern Lebanese Army, [SLA]” in South Lebanon during the Israeli occupation in South Lebanon. As SLA has tried to establish an independent state in South Lebanon, SDF or NES is trying to acquire the same course.
Since 2018 the Syrian army, with the help of allies – Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah- has been able to liberate most of the occupied lands. However, the liberation coincided with the rise of economic pressure on Syria. The price of the Syrian lira if compared to the American dollar dropped and its purchasing value decreased. It was due to the economic sanctions that were imposed on Syria, and lately “Caesar Law” which was activated in the mid of June 2020.
In 2018, the American troops withdrew from the north of Syria and were redeployed in the al-Hassaka district around the Syrian richest oil fields. The American companies, in particular ARAMCO, are now draining the Syria oil to the interest of NES and financing the American troops stationed in the northern-eastern area of the Euphrates in Syria. Actually, Syria is facing an internal problem with the lack of petroleum resources. The hard winter is coming and the lines for buying the diesel needed for heating the houses will be crowded as much as the lines for gasoline.
After burning and stealing the wheat plains in the al-Jazeera district by the Americans and the Turks, the bread prices went 25% higher. Shortage in bread supplies was triggered by the government’s decision to set the bread rations. The Americans were literally applying Kissinger’s policy which states that nations are ruled by bread, not by arms. The shortage of bread and petroleum products is new to the Syrian population; therefore, the successive Syrian governments are facing major challenges since the beginning of 2019.
Caesar Law added additional pressure on the countries that may establish economic and commercial deals with Syria. The law was imposed at a time in which the world is suffering from COVID-19 epidemic, which spread in Syria as well. In addition, Syria needs to deal with the issue of the Syrian refugees. It is a dilemma that needs to be dealt with appropriately. The refugees’ dilemma is used as a political card to force the Syrians to submit to the American political demands, which are set on two levels: national and international.
On the national level, the international community wants to pressure the Syrian government into implementing a new constitution based on the sectarian division of power, just like Lebanon, which would diminish the presidential authority and redistribute it, as it happened in Tunisia and Sudan, which would divide the power of the head of the state. The second issue is related to the question of the forcibly disappeared people, who were kidnapped or killed by the rebel groups, and treating the killers and kidnappers as political opponents without subjecting them to trials. This issue will be a matter of conflict, and will not be accepted by those whose families and friends were kidnapped or killed. This fact was revealed a few days ago by the new Syrian Foreign Minister, Mr. Feisal Muqdad.
On the international level, the requirements of the international community, i.e. the U.S., have become common knowledge. Since 2003, after the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, came to Syria and laid down the U.S. demands: dismantling Hezbollah arms, ending Syrian support to the resistance groups in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq, and ending cooperation with Iran in the region. The end means, as usually explained, is ensuring the security of Israel.
Naturally, the Syrians refused American demands. Therefore, we should make no mistake and assume that what had happened in the Arab region under the pretense of “Arab Spring” was meant for the destruction of Syria in order to dismantle it into minor sectarian states that can be easily controlled to the best interest of “Israel” and America.
Hence, Syria requires two essential needs to start its reconstruction process: the first is lifting the sanctions imposed on it; and the second is to end the American occupation in the northeast area. However, the West insists on linking lifting the sanctions to the political process. But when it comes to the achievement of the liberation from the Americans this process cannot be realized unless the national resistance would be highly activated in the northeast of Syria. It is America that we all know. It did not end its occupation of Vietnam, Korea, and eventually Iraq in 2010 until the number of causalities becomes unbearable in the American community.
Syria’s essential needs were clearly stated by its president Bashar Al-Assad on two occasions, the first was during a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 10th of November. The second time was in his speech at the opening of the International Conference on the Return of the Refugee in Damascus [ICRRD] on the 11th of November.
During his visit on the 5th of November to the exhibition “Producers 2020” in “Tekia Sulaymaniyah” in the capital, Damascus. It was attended by producers from the Aleppo governorate whose facilities, workshops, and shops were damaged during the war. President al-Assad talked about the economic impact of the issue of shortage of oil supplies and burning the wheat fields in northeastern regions.
He also explained that the economic problem was clearly becoming worse when the banks in Lebanon blocked the Syrian deposits. President al-Assad said that there is vagueness about the Syrian deposit’s estimations. Its assessment ranges from 20 billion dollars to 42 billion dollars. The blockade has been going on for years. He added the crisis began years before the Caesar Law and began years after the siege. It coincided with the money disappearance in the Lebanese banks. Furthermore, al-Assad declared that we do not know what the real number is, and this figure for an economy like the Syrian one is a frightening number.
Al-Assad’s declaration became one week before ICRRD to which Lebanon was invited. Was this a message to Lebanon? It could be, although many observers have denied it. The denial is basically based on Syria’s previous special treatment of Lebanon. Lebanon in the Syrian considerations are two contradictory facts: the first, Lebanon is an opening to the western world with bipolar swings. The first swing expressed in the historical Arab and regional ideology.
And the second swing is expressed in the lining towards a Western ideology, with the tendency to sign normalization agreements with “Israel”. The second group was of great concern to the Syrians since the creation of Lebanon. It is known as the right-wing groups, who allied with the Americans and the Israelis.
The second fact, Lebanon as a state is based on providing services and tourism. It is considered to be the lung that Syria needs to breathe with. However, this lung health became worse since 2011, when the United States accused the Lebanese Canadian Bank of laundering terrorism money. And then again in 2016, since many banks faced the same accusations and were prohibited to deal with customers that the U.S. listed them as Hezbollah members.
Accordingly, the Lebanese banks froze several balances for many customers and in particular the Syrian customers that were importing goods to Syria through Lebanon after imposing an embargo on Syria. It is clear for the Syrians, regardless of the unique relationship with Hezbollah, it is about time that Lebanon should release these balances, and pay its debts to Syria, especially the debts that have been accumulating since 1990, which are the revenues from selling electricity.
Syria, as President al-Assad explained, will need its money in the process of rebuilding the country’s main infrastructure and vital installations, which were destroyed during the liberation war against the terrorist groups. It is a call for Lebanon to join forces with Syria to demand lifting the embargo and to be excluded from Cesar Law consequences because Lebanon needs to open up to Syria for commercial trades towards the east, in particular, to Arab countries, or Lebanon will be demanded to pay back its debts.
The Americans were pushing Syria and the region since 1973 towards peace and normalization treaties with “Israel”. However, Syria has proven that such an agreement would be difficult to execute unless it was a “peace for land” agreement, which would ensure the right of return of the Palestinian people. An equation, nor the Israeli, neither the Americans are willing to sign for. In addition, Syria’s main condition, during the negotiations held in Oslo in 1992, was the return of all occupied Arab territories. However, the series of recognitions Trump has approved throughout his reign made the return to the negotiation table almost impossible. It also pushed into more complications with the relation between Syria and Lebanon since the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005. The need to separate the Syrian-Lebanese course in the peace process is becoming a must for the Americans. A need until today could not be achieved.
Syria now is subjected to American pressure that requires its approval to initiate peace and normalization agreements with Israel. This goal so far was difficult to achieve, especially after Trump’s recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel. Even Syria’s allies, in particular Russia, cannot force the Syrians to give up part of their land. Syria’s war on terror has spared all its allies the tragedy of dragging this war into their own territories.
Hence, Syria prepaid in blood for the security of its “friends” now. History will, sooner or later, reveal this fact. Syria’s insistence on the unity of its land, and its refusal to have any divided authority is now a fact. The Syrians cannot compromise it, and the allies cannot go against it. The course of negotiations the allies led in Astana and Sochi has affirmed it. However, this fact has complicated the Syrian scene furthermore. It might even force the Americans to lead directly the war in the region, whether in arms or diplomacy, since the proxies have proven their disabilities.
BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:20 P.M.) – The permanent representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Muallami, stressed on Wednesday, the need for Syria to return to the Arab League.
Al-Muallami said in an interview with RT Arabic that the relations between Riyadh and Damascus can be restored simply any day and any moment if the Syrian crisis ends and the factions of the Syrian people agree on the future directions in the country.
On the possibility of opening the Kingdom’s embassy in Damascus along the similar lines of the United Arab Emirates, Al-Muallami said that “there is currently no similar step in the near future because the time has not come yet.”
A delegation from Syria visited the Emirates after the UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus last year.
The Syrian-UAE private sector forum was held in Abu Dhabi with the participation of Syrian businessmen, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
“The forum comes within the framework of developing a positive relationship between the two private sectors in Syria and the UAE to establish joint investments,” said Mohammed Thani Murshid Al-Rumaithi, Chairman of the Federation of the UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
President Bashar al Assad told Russia-24 TV that Erdogan’s Muslim Brotherhood ideology, not Turkish national interests, is the cause of his sending troops illegally into Syria, to fight for al Qaeda in Idlib.
Syria News provides the full transcript of the recent interview by Yevgeny Primokov, courtesy of SANA.
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 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. 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.
في الظاهر يبدو انتصار الجيش السوري في أرياف حلب، واحداً من الانتصارات المتدحرجة التي بدأها الجيش السوري منذ تحرير أغلب أجزاء مدينة حلب قبل ثلاثة أعوام وبضعة شهور، لكن التدقيق سيكشف أهمية هذا الانتصار وتميّزه وتأثيره على المناخات السياسية والمعطيات العسكرية وتثبيته قواعدَ ستحكم كثيراً ما بعده.
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انتصر أمن حلب أولاً وقد عانت العاصمة السورية الثانية لسنوات ما بعد التحرير الأول من القصف والاعتداءات اليومية، ونظراً للعمق التركي وراء مناطق سيطرة الجماعات الإرهابية كان التجرؤ أكبر مما كانت تفعله هذه الجماعات في استهداف أمن دمشق من الغوطة قبل تحريرها، ورد الاعتبار لأمن العاصمة الاقتصادية سيكون له مردود كبير على حياة الناس أولاً وعلى النشاط الاقتصادي ثانياً، وبالتالي على مجمل الوضعين الأمني والاقتصادي.
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النصر الثاني هو بفتح الطريق الدولي الذي يشكل شرياناً حيوياً بين العاصمة دمشق وكل من مدينتي حماة وحلب، وبالتالي بين نصف سورية ونصفها الآخر تقريباً، وهذا الربط الذي يختصر الوقت والمخاطرات المرافقين للطريق المؤقت البديل، يعني عودة للحياة الطبيعية سكانياً واقتصادياً وأمنياً، وخصوصاً بعودة نسبة كبيرة من النازحين من أبناء المناطق التي شملها التحرير أو وفّر لها الأمن أو سهل الانتقال إليها، وهي عودة مرتقبة بعشرات الآلاف من أكثر من وجهة نزوح.
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النصر الثالث هو بسقوط آخر واجهات الاحتلال التركي من الميليشيات التي ترفع علماً مزيفاً باسم “الثورة السورية”. والمعلوم أن أرياف حلب كانت المنطقة الجغرافية التي تتمركز فيها هذه الجماعات ضمن تقسيم أدوار بينها وبين جبهة النصرة التي تتولى منطقة إدلب، وفقاً لترتيبات القيادة التركية، وسقوط آخر معاقل هذه الواجهات التي كانت تستعمل العلم السوري وتسعى لتغطية الاحتلال التركي بواجهة سورية، لا يعني فقط أن الاحتلال صار عارياً فقط، بل أيضاً سيكون له تأثير على مسار العملية السياسية وعمل اللجنة الدستورية، حيث كان بعض رموز ما يُسمّى بالمعارضة يستند لهذا الوجود في رفع السقوف وممارسة التعطيل.
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النصر الرابع هو في كون ما تبقى من معاقل للجماعات الإرهابية بات تحت وطأة مفاعيل النصر السريع للجيش السوري، في حال انهزام وتفكك وضياع، وسيكون لهذا النصر تأثيره في رسم إيقاع المواجهات اللاحقة بعدما تم تفكيك وإنهاء بنى وهياكل تحتل مناطق تقارب بحجمها المناطق المتبقية تحت سيطرة جماعات النصرة، وتضم بين صفوفها أعداداً من المسلحين تقارب عدد من بقوا في المناطق التي يستهدفها التحرير اللاحق.
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النصر الخامس هو بتثبيت معادلة العلاقة بروسيا وإيران، كحليفين لسورية، لحقت بالعلاقة بينهما وبين سورية حملات تشكيك ومحاولات نيل من المصداقية، وكانت أصعبها هذه المرة لخصوصية المناطق التي تدور فيها المعارك وموقعها المصيري بالنسبة للدور التركي، وما قالته توقعات أصحاب حملات التشكيك بأن ما كان يصحّ في التزام روسيا وإيران قبل إدلب وريفها وريف حلب لا يصحّ الآن، وقد بدأت أم المعارك. وجاءت النتائج لتقول إن ما يصحّ في فهم الحلف المبني على المصداقية هو قانون لا استثناءات فيه.
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النصر السادس هو بالرسالة التي وجّهتها العملية للقيادات الكردية، التي كان بعضها يراهن على ثبات كانتون تفرضه تركيا لجماعاتها في ريفي حلب الغربي والشمالي لأهميته وحيويته على حدودها، وأنه سيكون ذلك فرصة لطلب المثل. وجاء النصر يسقط هذه الفرضية ويسقط معها المعوقات أمام التفكير العقلاني الذي يشكل شرطاً لنجاح الحل السياسي مع هذه الجماعات.
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النصر السابع هو في تثبيت قواعد حاسمة لمفهوم السيادة في العلاقة السورية التركية، التي دخلت عليها بعض الأوهام لدى القيادة التركية، من نوع التلويح بالاستنجاد بالأطلسي أو بابتزاز الحليفين الروسي والإيراني، أو بالرهان على التهويل والترهيب بفرضية الحرب المباشرة بين الجيشين السوري والتركي، وكلها اختبارات جدّيّة وقاسية خاضتها القيادة السورية وفاز بها الرئيس بشار الأسد وأثبت الجيش السوري أهليته لتخطّيها، وباتت الحقائق التي قالتها معارك حلب خصوصاً حاكمة لمضامين لاحقة للعلاقة بين سورية وتركيا، عنوانها أن السيادة السورية خط أحمر.
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النصر الثامن هو في تأثير معركة حلب الحاسمة على مستقبل الحسابات الإسرائيلية التي كانت تبني على ثبات تركيا ومَن معها من جماعات إرهابية ومن جهّزتهم من جماعات تحت مسمّى المعارضة، حسابات تفترض أن استعادة سورية وحدتها تحت سيادة جيشها أمر دونه الكثير، وبالتالي فالتعامل مع ما تسمّيه “إسرائيل” بالفوضى السورية مستمرّ لأجل بعيد. وجاء النصر ينبؤها بالعكس ويفرض عليها حسابات من نوع مختلف فقريباً ستكون سورية متفرّغة للتعامل مع الاعتداءات الإسرائيلية، وقد استعادت وحدتها وسيادتها وعافيتها.
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النصر التاسع هو في تأثير المعركة الفاصلة في حلب على مستقبل الحسابات الأميركيّة التي تنازلت عن الواجهة الكرديّة في المناطق الشرقية لحساب الأتراك كي يصمدوا ويثبتوا، ويؤخروا لحظة الاستحقاق عن الوجود الأميركي، وجاءت الساعات التي سبقت النصر لتحمل طلباً تركياً بالتدخل المباشر للأميركيين أو للناتو كشرط لخوض تركيا المعركة عسكرياً بجيشها، وأقام الجميع حساباته، وعندما قرّر الناتو عدم الدخول، فهذا يعني أن واشنطن هي التي قرّرت، وقرارها هنا هو نسخة عن قرارها اللاحق بالنسبة للمناطق الشرقية، وإلا لكان الأفضل دمج المعركتين معاً وكسب ما تؤمّنه شراكة تركيا من فرص أفضل.
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النصر العاشر سياسيّ ودبلوماسيّ في علاقات سورية العربية والدولية، فالمتأخّرون عن دقّ أبواب دمشق، أو الذين فعلوا ذلك بتردّد وبالنقاط، باتوا يدركون أن عليهم مسابقة الزمن لفعل ذلك بصورة جدّية وسريعة وفعّالة، لأن الدولة السورية تُنهي آخر معاركها بسرعة، وتسابق الوقت بالمفاجآت، وعليهم أن يلاقوا ساعة النصر النهائي من سفاراتهم وقد استعادت كامل جهوزيتها ودورها في دمشق.
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نصر أخير لا رقم له هو انتقام رفاق السلاح للقائد قاسم سليماني الذي أقسم لأهل حلب بأن يكون معهم في التحرير الثاني الآتي بلا ريب، فكانوا معه يهدونه نصرَهم العظيم في ذكرى الأربعين.
Damascus – The year 2019 can be described as one of unimaginable transformations in Syria.
The last twelve months have been characterized by several major events in that country, including the collapse of Daesh as an integrated terrorist body. In the months that followed, US President Donald Trump backtracked on his promised withdrawal from Syria and deployed American troops to occupy Syrian oil wells. Meanwhile, Turkey expanded its invasion of northern Syria before the Syrian army deployed in the northeast of the country for the first time in seven years following an agreement with al-Qasd militias. The Syrian army was busy in other areas, recording significant advances in Hama’s northern countryside as well as southern Idlib where it regained several important towns and villages.
Away from the battlefield, the country also saw significant developments on the political front with the launch of the long-awaited Constitutional Committee. The committee is designed to put the country on the path towards a political settlement.
Daesh collapses but remains a pretext for occupation
The beginning of the year 2019 witnessed the fall of the last stronghold of the terrorist organization Daesh. The stronghold in the town of Al-Baghouz in Deir Ezzor’s countryside was overrun by Kurdish forces with the support of American warplanes. Prior to the Al-Baghouz news event, the Syrian army that spearheaded the fight against the Takfiri organization for years pushed Daesh out of large areas in the Syrian Badia.
As the year drew to a close, Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was assassinated in Idlib following a US operation. The assassination was shrouded in mystery as the US monopolized the narrative surrounding the killing. Meanwhile, the supposed threat of Daesh returning continues to be used by the Americans as a pretext to remain in Syria even though Trump announced on several occasions that he wanted to withdraw US troops.
The army makes advances in Idlib and Hama
In mid 2019, the Syrian army launched a massive military campaign against armed terrorist organizations in the northern countryside of Hama and southern Idlib. As the terrorist groups collapsed, the army was able to recapture the city of Kafr Nabudah in the Hama countryside, surrounding the Turkish observation post in Murak. The army’s advances in Idlib province culminated with the recapture of the town of Khan Shaykhun – a terrorist stronghold. Terrorists were plagued by infighting that saw the Nusra Front [Jabhat al-Nusra] eliminate the Army of Glory faction [Jaysh al-Izza] and Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.
A new Turkish invasion as the Syrian army returns to the borders and “Israel” runs wild
The collapse of the terrorist groups in Idlib clarified a failed investment for Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It prompted him to compensate by announcing another incursion into Syrian territory under the pretext of removing what he called the Kurdish terrorist threat. He had an agreement with the Americans as they announced their withdrawal from Syria, abandoning their assets including al-Qasd militias. However, the US backtracked from its announcement to withdraw due to its ambitions to seize Syrian oil, so it deployed its forces around the wells.
Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin signed an understanding in Sochi where the Russians mapped their role as a policeman for the region to curb the Turkish incursion into Syria and to assure that it implements the Adna agreement signed in 1998 and stresses on respecting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Immediately, the Syrian army moved to the Turkish-Syrian border, entering for the first time in seven years following an agreement with Syrian Kurds that have been abandoned by the US and threatened by Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Zionist enemy continued its policy aimed at raising the morale of its terrorist agents, so it carried out several raids on Syrian territory. However, the Syrian air defenses were able to thwart these attacks by intercepting a large number of “Israeli” missiles.
The Constitutional Committee sees the light of day
Moscow’s strategic patience in its relationship with Ankara bore fruit after the latter was left with few options. Hence, it reluctantly proceeded to implement part of its commitments, both in Sochi with the Russians and in Astana. The move showed Ankara as more of a guarantor and prevented it from investing in terrorist groups after the Syrian army tightened its noose around the militants.
Thus, the work of the Constitutional Committee between the national delegation supported by the Syrian government and delegations of civil society and the opposition began. But the latter adopted suggestions that were based on the Turkish and American desires that the national delegation strongly rejected.
The fourteenth and final round of the Astana agreement renewed the recognition of the legitimate right of Damascus to combat terrorism. But what is new was Russia formally firing at the autonomous administration project after confirming that the country would be centrally managed from Damascus.
Despite allowing the Syrian army to deploy in their areas, the separatists appeared to be under the mercy of President Trump’s mood swings and a limited US military presence to exploit Syrian oil wells.
Difficult economic circumstances did not prevent an increase in wages
Syrians experienced further economic hardship in 2019. This was made more difficult by Washington’s Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act that it slapped on Syrian companies dealing with the government. Nevertheless, at the end of the year, Syria saw a balanced increase in salaries and wages, the largest in its history. Damascus was more open to neighboring countries and its allies in terms of addressing the economic situation. Tehran was at the forefront of those activating joint agreements between the two countries. Despite US sanctions, Iran provided support for Damascus in all fields including reconstruction and housing, supplying oil, setting up joint projects and infrastructure.
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AS DELIVERED Geir O. Pedersen United Nations Special Envoy for Syria BRIEFING TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL 20 December 2019
Madame President,
1. One year ago, many believed that the Syrian conflict was winding down. Yet the past 12 months have seen a steady stream of violence, punctuated by escalations, that continue to this day, across many areas of Syria – such as the northwest, the northeast and the south. Proscribed terrorist groups have also not been defeated and continue to pose a major security threat. All of this serves as a constant, grim reminder that the need for a comprehensive political process, as mandated by this Council in resolution 2254, is more pressing than ever.
2. Today, let me start by updating you on one aspect of that process – the Constitutional Committee.
3. On 25 November, the Small Body of the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned Constitutional Committee convened for its second session. Before arriving in Geneva, I had asked each Co-Chair to put forward proposals for an agenda for the second session, in line with the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure.
4. On 21 November, the Co-Chair designated by the opposition Syrian Negotiations Commission, sent me a proposed workplan with 10 constitutional headings and an agenda focusing on the preamble to the Constitution and basic principles of the Constitution. On 25 November, the Co-Chair designated by the Syrian Government, proposed an agenda discussing “national pillars”, or national pillars of concern to the Syrian people.
5. At the same time, the Co-Chair designated by the Government insisted that constitutional issues could not be discussed until these “national pillars” were discussed. For its part, the SNC Co-Chair stated that “national pillars” could be discussed, provided this occurs within the context of the agreed Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure or within an agenda of basic constitutional principles.
6. From 25 through 29 November I sought, in line with my mandate, and consistent with the Syrian leadership and ownership of the process, to facilitate consensus between the Co-Chairs and bring their viewpoints closer together. We had serious discussions in this regard. Different formulas were put forward that might have enabled both sides to table and discuss the issues of interest to them within the scope of the Constitutional Committee’s mandate. By the end of the week, however, it was clear that consensus would not be reached and that a meeting of the Small Body was not possible.
7. During this recess, I remain focused on facilitating agreement on an agenda for the next session of the Small Body. I hope that I will soon be able to consult with the Syrian Government directly in Damascus to this end, as well as the Syrian Negotiations Commission. My team also remains in contact with the “Middle Third” civil society delegation and I stand ready to support them, along the lines I outlined in my last briefing.
8. I have also met with international stakeholders, on this and all other aspects of the process. This past month, I met with the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Turkey, as well as those of Italy, Jordan, Algeria, and senior officials from the US, France, Iran, and Germany, who all expressed support for my mediation efforts.
9. I hope agreement can be reached promptly on an agenda that falls in line with the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Committee. As things stand and absent an agreed agenda, I see no reason to convene another session of the Small Body.
Madame President,
10. When I last briefed this Council, we had just concluded a successful opening session of the Constitutional Committee. This second session was obviously very different, in both substance and tone. But disagreement on the agenda is typical for any political process.
11. I do, however, believe there are several lessons we can draw from the experience of the second round.
12. First, the Constitutional Committee is and will remain fragile. Progress depends on the two sides, whose agreement made its creation possible – the Syrian Government and the Syrian Negotiations Commission – allowing their members to work professionally on the constitutional issues, and without disassociating themselves from the work of those they nominated. The Constitutional Committee needs to be nurtured, and genuinely supported if it is to succeed. This is the responsibility of the Syrian parties. International stakeholders, too, have a supporting role to play. I know I can count on the support of this Council in that regard.
13. Second, any proposed agenda must comply with the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure, agreed between the Government and opposition. This means that all issues are open for discussion within the Committee – without preconditions, and without making consideration of one issue dependent on resolution of another. And it also means that issues should be framed and fall under a constitutional heading. The Constitutional Committee is mandated by agreement to prepare and draft a constitutional reform as a contribution to the political settlement. If the Constitutional Committee is to deliver on this, it must focus on its constitutional mandate.
14. Third, the second round only underscores the need for a broader and comprehensive political process. The Government and Opposition reaffirmed this when they agreed, in the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure, on the need for a ‘broader political process moving forward to build trust and confidence and implement Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).’ Indeed, I believe that, while a Constitutional Committee cannot solve the crisis, it can help foster the trust and confidence between the parties, that can open the door to a broader process– and, equally, such a broader process can feed positively into the work on the constitutional issues.
Madame President,
15. I believe a meaningful, wider political process would be one that delivers tangible actions, such as progress on the release of detainees/abductees and the clarification of the fate of missing persons. It remains a matter of great frustration for me that there has not been meaningful movement on this issue. My Deputy and I will continue engaging with the Syrian parties directly as well as with other relevant actors. We also remain committed to actively contribute to the efforts of the Working Group that was set up to deal with this issue. In this context, I met with senior officials from Russia, Turkey and Iran in Nur-Sultan last week and, along with discussion on other issues, I stressed the need to move beyond the “one-for-one” exchanges, and to see releases, at a meaningful scale, of children, women and the sick.
16. De-escalating violence and a nationwide ceasefire should underpin a wider political process. Northwest Syria has seen a deeply troubling escalation of violence in recent days. ASG Muller briefed this Council in detail yesterday on the terrible suffering of civilians there. The devastating humanitarian cost of a full-scale military offensive for the 3 million people living in northwest Syria is a price we simply cannot afford to pay. All sides must de-escalate urgently. Civilians also continue to suffer in northeast Syria, where the security situation remains volatile, even if it is calmer relative to the days and weeks after Turkey first launched its intervention. It is crucial that the various ceasefire understandings negotiated between actors there are respected and lead to a sustained de-escalation in violence. The security situation in southern Syria also remains turbulent and should be addressed.
17. Countering Security Council-listed terrorist groups is imperative too – through an approach that is cooperative, that ensures the protection of civilians, respects international humanitarian and human rights law.
18. And as always, while the security situation is the most devastating threat, Syrians also face increasing economic hardship, including as a result of commodity shortages and entrenched poverty. A broader process must ultimately address this too.
19. A broader process should respect and ultimately restore Syria’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and independence.
20. Such a process should achieve a long-lasting, real and genuine reconciliation.
Madame President,
21. A broader process must also be inclusive. We continue to consult with the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board on the concerns and priorities of diverse Syrian women and their perspectives on a sustainable and inclusive political solution.
22. Syrian civil society should be fully included in any broader process.
23. Ultimately, the process should help develop a safe, calm and neutral environment – an environment that sees safe, voluntary and dignified refugee returns, to their places of origin or of their choosing; an environment in which a new Constitution, adopted by popular approval, can be genuinely reflected in institutions and in practice; an environment in which inclusive, free and fair elections can take place, which include the diaspora and which are administered under the supervision of the United Nations in line with resolution 2254.
24. Many of these issues touch upon constitution-making and some could be discussed under a constitutional rubric. But a constitution-making process itself is not likely to resolve them in a way that meets the urgent and legitimate concerns of the Syrian people. I remain convinced that a “steps for steps” model could help unlock practical progress – steps that build trust and confidence among Syrians, and between Syrians and the international community, undertaken in a reciprocal fashion.
25. I continue to press on this in all of my engagements, with the Syrian parties and international stakeholders. I continue to offer my good offices in this regard. And I continue to support the convening of a new international format, to bring together the will of the key players.
Madame President,
26. This is my last briefing of my first year as Special Envoy. When I first briefed you, I said my priorities were a sustained dialogue with the Syrian Government and the opposition, the launch of the Constitutional Committee as a door opener, a wider dialogue with civil society, action on detainees, abductees and missing, and international discussions in support of a political solution.
27. These remain my priorities. But it is time now to update them. The Committee is launched – but needs to work expeditiously and continuously, producing results and continued progress. I appreciate my open and direct dialogue with both Syrian parties – but if we are to take it to the next level, we need to address the full array of issues. We must enable de-escalation leading towards a nationwide ceasefire, as well as a cooperative, lawful approach to countering proscribed terrorist groups. As part of this dialogue, we must generate concrete action on detainees, abductees and missing persons. I think all of this could take shape for the benefit of all Syrians, like through a “steps for steps” approach. And I think a key part of this is for international discussions to deepen and for a new international format to take shape, to underpin the process. We know that none of this will be easy, and I will continue to count on the full engagement of the Syrian parties and the full support of this Council. Thank you, Madame President.
أكد السيد الرئيس بشار الأسد أن سورية ستخرج من الحرب أكثر قوة وأن مستقبلها واعد والوضع الميداني فيها الآن أفضل، مشيراً إلى ما حققه الجيش العربي السوري من تقدم كبير في الحرب ضد الإرهاب.
وفي مقابلة مع التلفزيونالإيطالي جرت في الـ 26 من تشرين الثاني الماضي على أن تبث بتاريخ الثاني من كانون الأول الجاري وامتنع التلفزيون الإيطالي عن بثها لأسباب غير مفهومة أوضح الرئيس الأسد أن أوروبا كانت اللاعب الرئيسي في خلق الفوضى في سورية ومشكلة اللاجئين فيها بسبب دعمها المباشر للإرهاب إلى جانب الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية وتركيا ودول أخرى.
وبين الرئيس الأسد أنه منذ بداية الرواية المتعلقة بالأسلحة الكيميائية أكدت سورية أنها لم تستخدمها وأن التسريبات الأخيرة حول تقرير منظمة حظر الأسلحة الكيميائية تثبت أن كل ما قالته سورية على مدى السنوات القليلة الماضية كان صحيحاً وأنها كانت محقة وهم كانوا مخطئين.
وأكد الرئيس الأسد أن ما فعلته منظمة حظر الأسلحة الكيميائية هو فبركة وتزوير لتقرير بشأن استخدام الكيميائي لمجرد أن الأمريكيين أرادوا منها فعل ذلك لتثبت أنها منظمة منحازة ومسيسة تستخدم كذراع لأمريكا والغرب لخلق المزيد من الفوضى.
ودعا الرئيس الأسد الدول التي تتدخل في المسألة السورية للتوقف عن هذا التدخل وكذلك التوقف عن انتهاك القانون الدولي والتزام الجميع به الأمر الذي ينعكس إيجاباً على وضع الشعب السوري.
وفيما يلي النص الكامل للمقابلة…
السؤال الأول:
سيادة الرئيس، شكراً لكم على استقبالنا. هل لكم أن تخبرونا عن ماهية الوضع في سورية الآن؟ ما الوضع على الأرض، وماذا يحدث في البلاد؟
الرئيس الأسد:
لو أردنا الحديث عن المجتمع السوري، فإن الوضع أفضل بكثير، حيث إننا تعلمنا العديد من الدروس من هذه الحرب. وأعتقد أن مستقبل سورية واعد، لأن من الطبيعي أن نخرج من هذه الحرب أكثر قوة. فيما يتعلق بالوضع على الأرض، فإن الجيش السوري يحقق تقدماً على مدى السنوات القليلة الماضية، وحرر العديد من المناطق من الإرهابيين وبقيت إدلب، حيث توجد (جبهة النصرة) المدعومة من الأتراك. وهناك أيضاً الجزء الشمالي من سورية، حيث غزا الأتراك أراضينا الشهر الماضي. أما فيما يتعلق بالوضع السياسي فيمكن القول إنه أصبح أكثر تعقيداً بسبب وجود عدد أكبر من اللاعبين المنخرطين في الصراع السوري من أجل إطالة أمده وتحويله إلى حرب استنزاف.
السؤال الثاني:
عندما تتحدثون عن التحرير، نعلم أن هناك رؤية عسكرية في ذلك الشأن، لكن ماذا عن الوضع الآن بالنسبة للأشخاص الذين قرروا العودة إلى المجتمع؟ أين وصلت عملية المصالحة؟ هل تحقق نجاحاً أم لا؟
الرئيس الأسد:
في الواقع، إن النهج الذي تبنيناه عندما أردنا خلق مناخٍ إيجابي سميناه المصالحة، لكن من أجل تمكين الناس من العيش معاً، ولتمكين أولئك الذين عاشوا خارج المناطق التي تسيطر عليها الحكومة من العودة إلى المؤسسات وسيادة القانون، منحنا العفو للجميع، وسيتخلى هؤلاء عن أسلحتهم ويلتزمون بالقوانين. الوضع ليس معقداً فيما يتعلق بهذه القضية. وقد تتاح لكِ الفرصة لزيارة أي منطقة، وسترين أن الحياة تعود إلى وضعها الطبيعي. فالمشكلة لم تكن في أن “الناس كانوا يقاتلون بعضهم بعضاً”؛ ولم يكن الوضع -كما تحاول الرواية الغربية تصويره- أن السوريين يقاتلون بعضهم بعضاً، أو أنها “حرب أهلية” كما يسمونها، هذا تضليل. واقع الحال هو أن الإرهابيين كانوا يسيطرون على تلك المنطقة ويطبقون قواعدهم. وعندما لا يعود أولئك الإرهابيون موجودين، سيعود الناس إلى حياتهم الطبيعية ويعيشون مع بعضهم بعضاً. لم تكن هناك حربٌ طائفية ولا حربٌ عرقية ولا حرب سياسية، بل كان هناك إرهابيون مدعومون من قوى خارجية ولديهم المال والسلاح، ويحتلون تلك المنطقة.
السؤال الثالث:
هل لديكم مخاوف من أن هذا النوع من الأيديولوجيا الذي طبق وأصبح أساساً لحياة الناس اليومية لسنوات عديدة، يمكن أن يظل –بطريقة أو بأخرى- موجوداً في المجتمع وأن يعود إلى الظهور عاجلاً أم آجلاً؟
الرئيس الأسد:
هذا هو أحد التحديات الرئيسية التي نواجهها. ما طرحته صحيح تماماً. لدينا مشكلتان. تلك المناطق الواقعة خارج سيطرة الحكومة كان يتحكم بها أمران: الفوضى، بسبب غياب القانون، وبالتالي لا يعرف الناس، وخصوصاً الأجيال الشابة، شيئاً عن الدولة والقانون والمؤسسات. الأمر الثاني، وهو متجذر بعمق في العقول، هو الأيديولوجيا.. الأيديولوجيا الظلامية.. الأيديولوجيا الوهابية، إن كان (داعش) أو (النصرة) أو (أحرار الشام)، أو أي نوع من هذه الأيديولوجيات الإسلامية الإرهابية المتطرفة. الآن، بدأنا بالتعامل مع هذا الواقع، لأنه عندما يتم تحرير منطقة، ينبغي حل هذه المشكلة، وإلا فما معنى التحرير؟ الجزء الأول من الحل هو ديني، لأن هذه الأيديولوجيا هي أيديولوجيا دينية، ورجال الدين السوريون، أو لنقل المؤسسة الدينية في سورية، تبذل جهداً كبيراً في هذا المجال، وقد نجحوا في مساعدة هؤلاء الناس على فهم الدين الحقيقي، وليس الدين الذي علمتهم إياه (جبهة النصرة) أو (داعش) أو الفصائل الأخرى.
السؤال الرابع:
إذاً، فقد كان رجال الدين والجوامع، بشكل أساسي، جزءاً من عملية المصالحة هذه؟
الرئيس الأسد:
هذا هو الجزء الأكثر أهمية. الجزء الثاني يتعلق بالمدارس؛ ففي المدارس، هناك مدرسون وتعليم، وهناك المنهاج الوطني. وهذا المنهاج مهم جداً لتغيير آراء تلك الأجيال الشابة، ثالثاً، هناك الثقافة ودَوْر الفنون والمثقفين، وما إلى ذلك. في بعض المناطق، ما يزال من الصعب لعب ذلك الدور، وبالتالي كان من الأسهل علينا أن نبدأ بالدين، ومن ثم بالمدارس.
السؤال الخامس:
سيادة الرئيس، لنعد إلى السياسة للحظة. لقد ذكرتم تركيا، صحيح؟ وقد كانت روسيا أفضل حلفائكم على مدى هذه السنوات، وهذا ليس سراً، لكن روسيا تساوم تركيا على بعض المناطق التي تعتبر جزءاً من سورية. كيف تقيّمون ذلك؟
الرئيس الأسد:
لفهم الدور الروسي، علينا أن نفهم المبادئ الروسية. الروس يعتبرون أن القانون الدولي، والنظام الدولي الذي يستند إليه، هو في مصلحة روسيا ومصلحة العالم أجمع. وبالتالي، فإن دعم سورية، بالنسبة لهم، هو دعم للقانون الدولي. هذه نقطة. النقطة الثانية هي أن عملهم ضد الإرهابيين هو في مصلحة الشعب الروسي وفي مصلحة العالم بأسره. وبالتالي، فإن قيامهم بـ”مساومات” مع تركيا لا يعني أنهم يدعمون الغزو التركي، لكنهم أرادوا أن يلعبوا دوراً لإقناع الأتراك بأن عليهم أن يغادروا سورية. إنهم لا يدعمون الأتراك. إنهم لا يقولون: “هذا واقع جيد ونحن نقبله، ويتعين على سورية قبوله”. إنهم لا يقولون ذلك.
لكن، وبسبب الدور الأمريكي السلبي، والدور الغربي السلبي فيما يتعلق بتركيا والأكراد، تدخل الروس من أجل تحقيق التوازن مع ذلك الدور. لجعل الوضع، أنا لا أقول أفضل الآن، وإنما أقل سوءاً، إذا توخينا الدقة.
إذاً، هذا هو دورهم في هذه الأثناء. أما في المستقبل، فموقفهم واضح جداً: سيادة سورية وسلامة أراضيها. وسيادة سورية وسلامة أراضيها يتناقضان مع الغزو التركي، وهذا واضح بجلاء.
السؤال السادس:
إذاً، تقولون إن الروس يمكن أن يساوموا، لكن سورية لن تساوم تركيا. أقصد أن العلاقة ما تزال متوترة تماماً؟
الرئيس الأسد:
لا حتى الروس لم يساوموا بشأن السيادة. إنهم يتعاملون مع الواقع. وهناك واقع سيئ، وبالتالي عليك أن تنخرط فيه، ولا أقول للمساومة، لأن هذا ليس حلاً نهائياً. قد تكون مساومة فيما يتعلق بوضع قصير الأمد، لكن على المدى الطويل، أو المتوسط، ينبغي على تركيا أن ترحل. ليس هناك أي شك في ذلك.
السؤال السابع:
وعلى المدى البعيد، هل هناك خطة لإجراء نقاشات بينكم وبين السيد أردوغان؟
الرئيس الأسد:
لن أشعر بالفخر إذا تعين عليّ ذلك يوماً ما؛ بل سأشعر بالاشمئزاز من التعامل مع مثل هذا النوع من الإسلاميين الانتهازيين. ليسوا مسلمين، بل إسلاميين، وهذا مصطلح آخر، مصطلح سياسي. لكنني أقول دائماً إن وظيفتي لا تتعلق بمشاعري، ولا بأن أكون سعيداً أو غير سعيد بما أفعله، وظيفتي تتعلق بمصالح سورية. وبالتالي، أينما كانت تلك المصالح، فسأتجه.
السؤال الثامن:
في الوقت الراهن، عندما تنظر أوروبا إلى سورية، بصرف النظر عن اعتباراتها بشأن البلد، ثمة قضيتان رئيسيتان: الأولى تتعلق باللاجئين، والثانية تتعلق بالجهاديين أو المقاتلين الأجانب وعودتهم إلى أوروبا. كيف تنظر إلى هذه الهواجس الأوروبية؟
الرئيس الأسد:
بداية، علينا أن نبدأ بسؤال بسيط: من خلق هذه المشكلة؟ لماذا لديكم لاجئون في أوروبا؟ إنه سؤال بسيط. لأن الإرهاب مدعوم من أوروبا، وبالطبع من الولايات المتحدة وتركيا وآخرين؛ لكن أوروبا كانت اللاعب الرئيسي في خلق هذه الفوضى في سورية. وبالتالي كما تزرع تحصد.
السؤال التاسع:
لماذا تقول: إن أوروبا كانت اللاعب الرئيسي؟
الرئيس الأسد:
لأن الاتحاد الأوروبي دعم علنا الإرهابيين في سورية منذ اليوم الأول، أو لنقل الأسبوع الأول، من البداية. حمّلوا المسؤولية للحكومة السورية؛ وبعض الأنظمة -كالنظام الفرنسي- أرسلت لهم الأسلحة. هم قالوا ذلك، أحد مسؤوليهم، أعتقد أنه كان وزير الخارجية فابيوس الذي قال “إننا نرسل أسلحة”. هم أرسلوا الأسلحة وخلقوا هذه الفوضى. ولذلك فإن عددا كبيراً من الناس – ملايين الناس لم يعد بإمكانهم العيش في سورية ووجدوا صعوبة في ذلك، وبالتالي كان عليهم الخروج منها.
السؤال العاشر:
في اللحظة الراهنة، هناك اضطرابات في المنطقة، وهناك نوع من الفوضى. أحد حلفاء سورية الآخرين هي إيران، والوضع هناك يسير نحو التعقيد. هل لذلك أي انعكاس على الوضع في سورية؟
الرئيس الأسد:
بالتأكيد، فكلما كانت هناك فوضى، ستنعكس سلباً على الجميع، وسيكون لها آثار جانبية وتبعات، وخصوصاً عندما يكون هناك تدخل خارجي. إن كان الأمر عفوياً.. إن كنت تتحدثين عن مظاهرات وأناس يطالبون بالإصلاح أو بتحسين الوضع الاقتصادي، أو أي حقوق أخرى، فإن ذلك إيجابي. لكن عندما تكون عبارة عن تخريب ممتلكات وتدمير وقتل وتدخل من قبل القوى الخارجية، فلا يمكن لذلك إلا أن يكون سلبياً، لا يمكن إلا أن يكون سيئاً وخطيراً على الجميع في هذه المنطقة.
السؤال الحادي عشر:
هل أنتم قلقون حيال ما يحدث في لبنان، وهو جاركم الأقرب؟
الرئيس الأسد:
نفس الشيء. بالطبع، لبنان سيؤثر في سورية أكثر من أي بلد آخر لأنه جارنا المباشر. لكن مرة أخرى، إذا كان ما يحدث عفوياً ويتعلق بالإصلاح والتخلص من النظام السياسي الطائفي، فإنه سيكون جيداً للبنان. ومجددا، فإن ذلك يعتمد على وعي الشعب اللبناني بألا يسمح لأي كان من الخارج أن يحاول استغلال التحرك العفوي أو المظاهرات في لبنان.
السؤال الثاني عشر:
لنعد إلى ما يحدث في سورية. في حزيران، بعث البابا فرنسيس لكم برسالة يطلب فيها منكم الاهتمام بالناس واحترامهم، وخصوصاً في إدلب، حيث ما يزال الوضع متوتراً جداً بسبب القتال هناك، وحتى عندما يتعلق الأمر بمعاملة السجناء. هل رددتم عليه، وماذا كان ردكم؟
الرئيس الأسد:
تمحورت رسالة البابا حول قلقه بشأن المدنيين في سورية. وكان لدي ذلك الانطباع بأن الصورة ليست مكتملة لدى الفاتيكان، وهذا متوقع، بالنظر إلى أن الرواية في الغرب تدور حول هذه “الحكومة السيئة” التي تقتل “شعباً طيباً”. وكما ترين وتسمعين في نفس وسائل الإعلام بأن كل طلقة يطلقها الجيش السوري وكل قنبلة يرميها لا تقتل سوى المدنيين ولا تقع إلا على المستشفيات! إنها لا تقتل الإرهابيين بل تختار أولئك المدنيين! وهذا غير صحيح.
وبالتالي، رددت برسالة تشرح للبابا الواقع في سورية، وبأننا أول وأكثر من يهتم بحياة المدنيين، لأنك لا تستطيعين تحرير منطقة بينما يكون الناس فيها ضدك، لا تستطيعين التحدث عن التحرير بينما المدنيون أو المجتمع ضدك. الجزء المحوري الأهم في تحرير أي منطقة عسكرياً هو أن تحظى بالدعم الشعبي في تلك المنطقة بشكل عام. وهذا ما كان واضحاً على مدى السنوات التسع الماضية.
السؤال الثالث عشر:
لكن هل جعلتك تلك الدعوة تفطن، بطريقة ما، بأهمية حماية المدنيين وحماية الناس في بلدكم؟
الرئيس الأسد:
لا، فهذا ما نفكر فيه كل يوم، وليس من منظور الأخلاق والمبادئ والقيم وحسب، بل من منظور المصالح أيضاً. كما ذكرت قبل قليل، فبدون هذا الدعم، بدون الدعم الشعبي، لا يمكن تحقيق شيء، لا يمكن تحقيق التقدم سياسياً، أو عسكرياً، أو اقتصادياً أو في أي وجه من الوجوه. ما كنا سنتمكن من الصمود في هذه الحرب لتسع سنوات دون الدعم الشعبي، كما لا يمكنك أن تحظي بالدعم الشعبي بينما تقومين بقتل المدنيين، إنها معادلة بديهية لا يمكن لأحد دحضها. ولذلك قلت إنه بصرف النظر عن هذه الرسالة، فإن هذا هو هاجسنا.
لكن الفاتيكان دولة، ونعتقد أن دور أي دولة، إن كان لديها قلق بشأن أولئك المدنيين، هو أن تعود إلى السبب الرئيسي. والسبب الرئيسي هو الدعم الغربي للإرهابيين، والعقوبات المفروضة على الشعب السوري التي جعلت الوضع أسوأ بكثير، وهذا سبب آخر لوجود اللاجئين في أوروبا الآن. كيف تتسق رغبتكم بعدم وجود اللاجئين بينما تقومون في الوقت نفسه بخلق كل الأوضاع أو الأجواء التي تقول لهم: “اخرجوا من سورية واذهبوا إلى مكان آخر”. وبالطبع، فإنهم سيذهبون إلى أوروبا.
إذاً، ينبغي على هذه الدولة، أو أي دولة، أن تعالج الأسباب، ونأمل أن يلعب الفاتيكان ذلك الدور داخل أوروبا وفي العالم، لإقناع العديد من الدول بالتوقف عن التدخل في المسألة السورية، والتوقف عن انتهاك القانون الدولي. هذا كافٍ، فكل ما نريده هو التزام الجميع بالقانون الدولي. عندها سيكون المدنيون في أمان، وسيعود النظام، وسيكون كل شيء على ما يرام. لا شيء سوى ذلك.
السؤال الرابع عشر:
سيادة الرئيس، لقد اُتهمتم مرات عدة باستخدام الأسلحة الكيميائية، وقد شكل ذلك أداة لاتخاذ العديد من القرارات، ونقطة رئيسية، وخطاً أحمر ترتبت عليه العديد من القرارات. قبل عام أو أكثر من ذلك بقليل، وقع حادث دوما الذي اعتبر خطاً أحمر آخر. بعد ذلك، كانت هناك عمليات قصف، وكان يمكن أن تكون أسوأ، لكن شيئاً ما توقف. هذه الأيام، ومن خلال ويكيليكس، يتبين أن خطأً ما ارتكب في التقرير. إذاً، لا أحد يستطيع حتى الآن أن يقول ما حصل، إلا أن خطأ ما ربما حدث خلال صياغة التقرير حول ما جرى، ما رأيكم؟
الرئيس الأسد:
نحن نقول دائماً، ومنذ بداية هذه الرواية المتعلقة بالأسلحة الكيميائية، إننا لم نستخدمها، ولا نستطيع استخدامها، ومن المستحيل استخدامها في وضعنا، لعدة أسباب، دعينا نقل أسبابا لوجستية..
مداخلة:
أعطني سبباً واحداً!
الرئيس الأسد:
سبب واحد وبسيط جداً هو أننا عندما نكون في حالة تقدم، لماذا نستخدم الأسلحة الكيميائية؟! نحن نتقدم، فلماذا نحتاج لاستخدامها؟! نحن في وضع جيد جداً، فلماذا نستخدمها؟! وخصوصاً في عام 2018، هذا سبب.. السبب الثاني، ثمة دليل ملموس يدحض هذه الرواية: عندما تستخدمين الأسلحة الكيميائية، فأنتِ تستخدمين سلاح دمار شامل، أي تتحدثين عن آلاف القتلى، أو على الأقل مئات. وهذا لم يحدث أبداً، مطلقاً. هناك فقط تلك الفيديوهات التي تصوّر مسرحيات عن هجمات مفبركة بالأسلحة الكيميائية، وفي التقرير الذي ذكرته، طبقاً للتسريبات الأخيرة، ثمة عدم تطابق بين ما رأيناه في الفيديوهات وما رأوه كتقنيين وخبراء.
كما أن كمية الكلور التي يتحدثون عنها، وبالمناسبة فإن الكلور ليس سلاح تدمير شامل. هذا أولاً. ثانياً، الكمية التي عثروا عليها هي نفس الكمية التي يمكن أن تكون لديك في منزلك، لأن هذه المادة -كما تعرفين- موجودة في العديد من المنازل، ويمكن أن تستعمليها ربما في التنظيف، أو لأي غرض آخر. نفس الكمية بالتحديد. وما فعلته منظمة حظر الأسلحة الكيميائية، هو فبركة وتزوير التقرير لمجرد أن الأمريكيين أرادوا منهم فعل ذلك.
لذلك، لحسن الحظ، فإن هذا التقرير أثبت أن كل ما كنا نقوله على مدى السنوات القليلة الماضية، منذ عام 2013، كان صحيحاً. نحن كنا محقّين، وهم كانوا مخطئين. وهذا هو الدليل، الدليل الملموس بشأن هذه القضية.
إذاً، مرة أخرى تثبت منظمة حظر الأسلحة الكيميائية انحيازها، وأنها مسيّسة ولا أخلاقية. وتلك المنظمات التي ينبغي أن تعمل بالتوازي مع الأمم المتحدة على خلق المزيد من الاستقرار في سائر أنحاء العالم، تُستخدم كأذرع لأمريكا والغرب لخلق المزيد من الفوضى.
السؤال الخامس عشر:
سيادة الرئيس، بعد تسع سنوات من الحرب، تتحدثون عن أخطاء الآخرين. أودّ أن تتحدثوا عن أخطائكم، إذا كان هناك أي أخطاء. هل هناك شيء كان يمكن أن تفعلوه بطريقة مختلفة، وما الدرس الذي تعلمتموه ويمكن أن يساعد بلدكم؟
الرئيس الأسد:
بالتأكيد، فعندما تتحدثين عن فعل أي شيء، لا بد أن تجدي أخطاء. هذه هي الطبيعة البشرية. لكن عندما تتحدثين عن الممارسة السياسية، لنقل، ثمة شيئان: هناك الاستراتيجيات أو القرارات الكبرى، وهناك التكتيك، أو لنقل التنفيذ. وهكذا، فإن قراراتنا الاستراتيجية أو الرئيسية تمثلت في الوقوف في وجه الإرهاب، وإجراء المصالحات والوقوف ضد التدخل الخارجي في شؤوننا.
وحتى اليوم بعد تسع سنوات، ما زلنا نتبنى نفس السياسة، بل بتنا أكثر تمسكاً بها. لو كنّا نعتقد أنها كانت خاطئة، لغيرناها. في الواقع، فإننا لا نعتقد أنه كان هناك أي خطأ فيها. لقد قمنا بمهمتنا، وطبقنا الدستور في حماية الشعب.
الآن، إذا تحدثنا عن الأخطاء في التنفيذ، فبالطبع يوجد العديد منها. لكن أعتقد أنك إذا أردت التحدث عن الأخطاء المتعلقة بهذه الحرب فلا ينبغي أن نتحدث عن القرارات المتخذة خلالها، لأن الحرب -في جزء منها- هي نتيجة لأمور حدثت قبلها..
هناك شيئان واجهناهما خلال هذه الحرب: الأول هو التطرف. والتطرف نشأ في هذه المنطقة في أواخر ستينيات القرن العشرين وتسارع في ثمانينياته، خصوصاً الأيديولوجيا الوهابية. إذا أردت التحدث عن الأخطاء في التعامل مع هذه القضية، نعم، سأقول إننا كنّا متساهلين جداً مع شيء خطير جداً. وهذا خطأ كبير ارتكبناه على مدى عقود. وأتحدث هنا عن حكومات مختلفة، بما في ذلك حكومتنا قبل هذه الحرب.
الشيء الثاني هو عندما يكون هناك أشخاص مستعدون للثورة ضد النظام العام، وتدمير الممتلكات العامة، والتخريب، وما إلى ذلك، ويعملون ضد بلدهم، ويكونون مستعدين للعمل مع قوى أجنبية وأجهزة استخبارات أجنبية، ويطلبون التدخل العسكري الخارجي ضد بلادهم.. فهناك سؤال آخر: هو كيف وجد هؤلاء بيننا؟ إن سألتني كيف، فسأقول لك إننا قبل الحرب، كان لدينا نحو 50 ألف خارج عن القانون لم تقبض عليهم الشرطة، على سبيل المثال. وبالنسبة لأولئك الخارجين عن القانون فإن عدوهم الطبيعي هو الحكومة، لأنهم لا يريدون أن يدخلوا السجن.
السؤال السادس عشر:
وماذا عن الوضع الاقتصادي أيضا؟ لأن جزءاً مما حدث – لا أعلم ما إذا كان جزءاً كبيراً أم صغيراً – تمثل في سخط السكان والمشاكل التي عانوا منها في مناطق معينة لم يكن الاقتصاد ناجحاً فيها. هل يشكل هذا درساً ما تعلمتموه؟
الرئيس الأسد:
قد يشكل هذا عاملاً، لكنه بالتأكيد ليس عاملاً رئيسياً، لأن البعض يتحدث عن أربع سنوات من الجفاف دفعت الناس لمغادرة أراضيهم في المناطق الريفية والذهاب إلى المدن.. وبالتالي يمكن أن تكون تلك مشكلة، لكنها ليست المشكلة الرئيسية. البعض أيضا يتحدث عن السياسات الليبرالية. لم يكن لدينا سياسة ليبرالية، بل ما نزال اشتراكيين، وما يزال لدينا قطاع عام كبير جداً في الحكومة. لا يمكن الحديث عن سياسة ليبرالية بينما لديك قطاع عام كبير. وكنّا نحقق نموا جيداً.
مرة أخرى بالطبع، وفي أثناء تنفيذ سياستنا، يتم ارتكاب أخطاء. كيف يمكن خلق فرص متكافئة بين الناس.. بين المناطق الريفية والمدن؟ عندما تفتح الاقتصاد بشكل ما، فإن المدن ستستفيد بشكل أكبر، وسيؤدي هذا إلى المزيد من الهجرة من المناطق الريفية إلى المدن. قد تكون هذه عوامل، وقد يكون لها بعض الدور، لكنها ليست هي القضية، لأنه في المناطق الريفية، حيث هناك درجة أكبر من الفقر، لعب المال القطري دوراً أكثر فعالية مما لعبه في المدن، وهذا طبيعي؛ إذ يمكن أن يدفع لهم أجر أسبوع على ما يمكن أن يقوموا به خلال نصف ساعة. وهذا أمرٌ جيد جداً بالنسبة لهم.
السؤال السابع عشر:
شارفنا على الانتهاء، لكن لديّ سؤالين أودُّ أن أطرحهما عليكم. السؤال الأول يتعلق بإعادة الإعمار التي ستكون مكلفة جداً. كيف تتخيلون أنه سيكون بإمكانكم تحمّل تكاليف إعادة الإعمار، ومن الذين يمكن أن يكونوا حلفاءكم في إعادة الإعمار؟
الرئيس الأسد:
ليس لدينا مشكلة كبيرة في ذلك. وبالحديث عن أن سورية ليس لديها المال. لا، لأن السوريين في الواقع يمتلكون الكثير من المال. السوريون الذين يعملون في سائر أنحاء العالم لديهم الكثير من المال، وأرادوا أن يأتوا ويبنوا بلدهم؛ لأنك عندما تتحدثين عن بناء البلد، فالأمر لا يتعلق بإعطاء المال للناس، بل بتحقيق الفائدة. إنه عمل تجاري. ثمة كثيرون، وليس فقط سوريون، أرادوا القيام بأعمال تجارية في سورية. إذاً، عند الحديث عن مصدر التمويل لإعادة الإعمار، فالمصادر موجودة، لكن المشكلة هي في العقوبات المفروضة التي تمنع رجال الأعمال أو الشركات من القدوم والعمل في سورية. رغم ذلك، فقد بدأنا وبدأت بعض الشركات الأجنبية بإيجاد طرق للالتفاف على هذه العقوبات، وقد بدأنا بالتخطيط. ستكون العملية بطيئة، لكن لولا العقوبات لما كان لدينا أي مشكلة في التمويل.
السؤال الثامن عشر:
أودُّ أن أختتم بسؤال شخصي جداً. سيادة الرئيس، هل تشعر بنفسك كناجٍ؟
الرئيس الأسد:
إذا أردت الحديث عن حرب وطنية كهذه، حيث تعرضت كل مدينة تقريباً للأضرار بسبب الإرهاب أو القصف الخارجي أو أشياء من هذا القبيل، عندها يمكنك اعتبار أن كل السوريين ناجون. لكن مرة أخرى أعتقد أن هذه هي الطبيعة البشرية، أن يسعى المرء للنجاة.
مداخلة:
وماذا عنك شخصيا؟
الرئيس الأسد:
أنا جزءٌ من هؤلاء السوريين، ولا يمكن أن أنفصل عنهم، ولديّ نفس المشاعر. مرة أخرى، الأمر لا يتعلق بأن تكون شخصاً قوياً ناجياً، لو لم يكن لديك هذا المناخ، هذا المجتمع، هذه الحاضنة -إذا جاز التعبير- للنجاة، فإنك لا تستطيعين النجاة. إنها عملية جماعية، ولا تقتصر على شخص واحد. إنها ليست عملاً فردياً.
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