Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was sworn in on Wednesday, as he stressed that Syria sill stay proud and steadily strong against foreigners.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was sworn in on Wednesday, as he stressed that Syria sill stay proud and steadily strong against foreigners, more than three years after terrorism swept into its territories under the pretext of “revolution”.

In a triumphant speech delivered after he took the oath of office at a red carpet ceremony in Damascus, the Syrian leader saluted the “honorable” and “free” Syrians.

As he branded the 2011 so-called Arab sping a "fake spring", President Assad reminded how throughout the crisis in Syria some have spoken on behalf of the Syrian people repeating the slogan “The People Want’.

“Yes, the people did want, the people did make their decision, the people did act,” the President said.

“Years have passed since some chanted for freedom, but you, the Syrians, were the freemen at the time of subordination, and you were the masters at the time of acting,” he added.
The President also hailed the Syrians’ firm steadfastness as they have refused to bow, surrender or give up to those who shouted that “they won’t kneel down but to God”.

“They wanted it a revolution, but you have been the real revolutionaries,” he said.
The Syrian president said that the ugly faces have been exposed after the mask of ‘freedom’ and ‘revolution’ was dropped.”

“All those who exploited the crisis for their own benefits were overthrown.”
Assad hailed Syria’s June 3 presidential elections as “a full-dimensional battle” and not just a procedural political process, a battle “for its win all other battles have been devoted.”

The elections, he added, “were a declaration of a real affiliation to the homeland that rises above the affiliation given by an ID or a passport.”
“The elections were a bullet at terrorists,” he added.

Meanwhile, Assad who was elected last June for his third term, stressed that Syria’s “victory would not have been achieved had it not been for the blood of martyrs and injured.”
President Assad added that “since the beginning of the crisis we warned that what is happening a dangerous scheme for the region.”

“Is not what we see today in Iraq Lebanon all countries infected by the false plague of the Arab spring a concrete, tangible evidence of what we warned of before,” the Syrian leader wondered.

On the other hand, President Assad stressed that Syria will go on with fighting terrorism.
“We have decided since the first days of aggression to go ahead into balanced tracks; striking terrorism and making local reconciliations to those who want to return to the right path, and we were confident that the right solutions are only Syrians.”

”We are not concerned about those who went out as traitor, agent or corrupter as the country has cleaned itself from those… and they have no place or position at the Syrians.

President Assad meanwhile, called for countering corruption at all the institutions in the country.
Assad further called for working hand in hand on reconstruction, which he said will be “the headline of the economy in the coming stage,” in parallel with the work to rehabilitate the other sectors.

President al-Assad said that “this day marks the beginning of a new stage, the main distinguishing feature of which is consensus on protecting the homeland and rebuilding it morally, psychologically, and physically, as well as consensus on eliminating terrorism and bringing all those who strayed from the proper path back to the arms of the homeland.”

Talking about the brutal Israeli aggression against Gaza, the Syrian leader noted that it is nor separate or immediate event, “because all the events since the occupation of Palestine up to the invasion of Iraq and the division of Sudan have been part of a chain of events planned by Israel and the West and implemented always by the countries of oppression, tyranny, and regression.”

President Assad stressed that what is happening in Syria and the whole region is directly linked to Palestine, adding that those who believe that they can live in peace while distancing themselves from the Palestinian cause are delusional.
Palestine “will always be the central cause based on principles and reality and what that reality imposes in terms of links between what is happening in Syria and Palestine,” he said.

President Assad saluted the Syrian Army which spared no effort in defense of the homeland, and saluted popular defense groups and all the young men and women who took up arms in defense of the dignity, pride, and honor of their homeland.