Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed that the current crisis in his country is passing through a turning point on the military side due to the continuous achievements of the army in the war against terrorism.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed that the current crisis in his country is passing through a turning point on the military side due to the continuous achievements of the army in the war against terrorism.

In a meeting with the teaching staff and post-graduate students at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Damascus, Assad warned that the intellectual war is one of the gravest aspects of the colonial aggression targeting Syria.

“Intellectual war and attempts to abolish or replace identity are one of the gravest aspects of the colonial aggression targeting Syria,” official news agency, SANA, quoted President Assad as saying.

The Arab region is originally based on an ideology of correlation between Arabism and Islam, the President said, "which makes adherence to this principle one of the most important factors for restoring intellectual and social security to Arab societies."

The West has sought to abolish this ideology so as to dominate the region and the role of Arab countries. Having failed to do so, the Syrian leadert said, the West turned to play on concepts to alter the essence of the ideology.

President Assad here noted that intellectuals and academics have a role to look into concepts and furnish them with clear-cut meanings to confront attempts aimed at voiding ideologies of their content.

Syria is targeted, not only for its weighty geopolitical position, but also for its pivotal role in the region and the sway it has on the Arab street, the President said.