Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday that selecting the country’s head is an issue related solely to the Syrian people and not the Western countries.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday that selecting the country's head is an issue related solely to the Syrian people and not the Western countries, indicating that the majority of international reports about Syria are politicized and controlled by the United States.

During an interview given to DUTCH NPO2 TV channel, Assad said that the Syria is a sovereign stats who people do not accept that a foreign party comes and tells them who should govern them, stressing that he will remain in office as long as the Syrians are demanding it.

"That’s why we don’t respond. We don’t care about it," he said.

The Syrian President pointed out that fighting terrorism should be sustainable principle rather than being a reaction caused by fear, reiterating that his policy has for long been based upon two main pillars: dialogue and fighting terrorism.

Commenting on a question about statements from France that it accepts he may be part of a solution, President Assad replied sarcastically:

"Thank them for saying that; I was packing my luggage, I had to leave, now I can stay. We never care about whatever they say. They’ve been saying the same for four years now. Did anything change regarding that issue? Nothing."

"This is a Syrian issue, whether it’s Obama or the United States or Europe or any country, we don’t care about it. As long as the Syrians want this president or any other president to be in power, he will be there. So, to say that that he’s leaving now or leaving in six months or in six years, it’s not their business, very simply," he added.

Regarding the Syrian refugees, Assad stated that they left because of the direct terrorist attacks, because the terrorists attacked the infrastructure, and because of the Western embargo that led to the same result intended by the terrorists, whether directly or indirectly.

"I think most of those are ready to go back to their country. They still love their country, but living in Syria could be unbearable for them for different circumstances."

"You are in Syria now, you can go to the areas under our control. You can see that some of the families of the terrorists or the extremists or the militants, whatever you want to call them, live under the supervision of the government and the support of the government. So, why didn’t those families leave Syria?" President Assad told the Dutch journalist.

Regarding stories in the West of Syrians talking about torture and things done by the national armed forces, Assad said, "If you are torturing your people, attacking, killing, and so on, and you have the enmity of Western governments, the strongest countries in the world, the richest countries like in the Gulf, like Turkey, our neighbors, are against me as president or against the government, how could you withstand for nearly five years in such circumstances if you don’t have public support? And how can you have public support if you are torturing your people? I mean, if you have mistakes in reality, that could happen, that would happen anywhere."

Moreover, the Syrian President noted that the European officials allowed the Saudi Wahhabi school to bring its extremist ideology to Europe, and that terrorists are coming out from European countries, stating that if the Western powers are serious in solving the problem in Syria, they have to go and work to stop the flood and the flowing of terrorists and the money and logistic support through Turkey.