Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed that the exact timetable to get out of the current crisis in Syria starts by defeating terrorism.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed that the exact timetable to get out of the current crisis in Syria starts by defeating terrorism.

During an interview with Italian TV channel RAI UNO late on Wednesday, President Assad said that the terrorist insurgents are real obstacle of any political solution in Syria, SANA news agency reported.

Asked about any timetable to get out of the deadly crisis hitting the country, Assad said: “The timetable, if you want to talk about schedule, this timetable starts after starting defeating terrorism.”

“Before that, there will be no point in deciding any timetable, because you cannot achieve anything politically while you have the terrorists taking over many areas in Syria, and they’re going to be – they are already they main obstacle of any real political advancement.”

Commenting on western calls for Assad to leave power during Vienna talks, the Syrian leader stressed that the main part of Vienna statement is that everything regarding the political process is about what the Syrians are going to agree upon.

“No, in the statement there is nothing regarding the president. The main part of Vienna is that everything that is going to happen regarding the political process is about what the Syrians are going to agree upon, so the most output of that phrase is about the constitution, and the president, any president, should come to his position and leave that position according to constitutional procedures, not to the opinion of any Western power or country,” President Assad told the Italian TV reporter.

Meanwhile, Assad described as ‘horrible crime’ the attacks which rocked the French capital last Friday.

“It’s a sad event when you hear about innocents being killed without any reason and for nothing, and we understand in Syria the meaning of losing a dear member of the family or a dear friend, or anyone you know, in such a horrible crime. We’ve been suffering from that for the past five years. We feel for the French as we feel for the Lebanese a few days before that, and for the Russians regarding the airplane that’s been shot down over Sinai.”