Mr. President, he had proposed it and said that 20 days and 500
Amid western and Arab countries rushing to solve the Syrian crisis politically following their defeat on ground, trying sometimes to unify the opposition groups and other times to hold international conferences, what Syrian President Bashar al-Assad believes the solution course will be, under the great support the terrorist takfiris gangs receive from some western and Arab states?
Al-Manar TV made an exclusive interview with President Assad, in which he expressed several important stances that touch on the files related to the Syrian crisis in a whole.
Interview made by Batoul Ayoub Naim
Q: Mr. President, he had proposed it and said that 20 days and 500 personalities without guarantees. This means there will be a leave to outside, but we can’t ensure how the judiciary will follow up the case. Anyway Mr. President, that what takes us to the negotiation section; we are tackling Geneva-2 conference. The Syrian leadership and government have declared the initial approval to participate in the conference. The word negotiation means in the end that we are sitting to a table where the Syrian flag is placed along with the flag of the opposition groups. How would you convince the Syrian people after two and a half years that you are sitting to a negotiation table side by side with those groups?
A: First of all, with respect to the flag, I believe that the flag has no sense but to the people it presents. When we place a flag on anywhere on the table, we signify the people related to this flag. We can ask this question to those who want to raise Syrian flags under the sky of Syria other than the Syrian official flag. This flag has no value when it doesn’t represent a people. On the other hand, we are going to Geneva 2 in an official capacity as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Whom are they representing? When the conference ends, we will return to Syria, to our homes, to our people; but to whom they will return? To the five-star hotels or to the foreign ministers of the states they represent - which is not Syria of course - to submit reports, or to the intelligence agencies of those countries?
Thus when we go to the conference, we must realize that a part of those who will sit to the table, I say ‘part’ because the conference formula hasn’t been made clear yet. What is the position of the national Syrian opposition? What is the position of opposition and other parties located in Syria? There are many other questions. However, the outside opposition you are talking about it and its flag, we know that we are going to negotiate with the states that support it, and not to negotiate with the opposition itself. When we negotiation with the servant in shape, then we are actually negotiating with the master. This is the truth, and we know it, and we must not hide behind our fingers. This is the truth.
Q: Do you, the Syrian leadership, believe that negotiation table will be inevitably held and negotiations will kick off next month?
A: Yes we believe so, unless other states hinder it. For our part in Syria, we declared two days before that we have agreed - in principle - upon attending ...
Q: This term ‘in principle’, the initial approval, why there is always a backward possibility?
A: Because the principle of Geneva 2 is right, but what are its details? Are there any details? Will there be conditions developed prior to the conference for example? If they demand conditions, we may reject them and refuse to participate. Yet; the principle of the conference; i.e. the meeting formula is good one. That’s what we mean by ‘in principle’.
Q: Mr. President, let us move to the conditions developed by the Syrian leadership. What are the conditions of Syria?
A: Simply, the only condition is that every single point to be implemented, following any local or outside meeting including the Geneva conference, should be submitted to the will of the Syrian people and to the Syrian popular referendum. This is the only actual condition, anything else is non-valuable. Because of this, we are going while being relieved. We don’t have any loops. They can propose anything, and we can propose anything, but nothing will be implemented without the will of the Syrian people. And since we are legitimately and legally presenting the Syrian people, there is nothing to be afraid of it.
Q: Mr. President, let us clarify. There is wide confusion about Geneva 1 and Geneva 2 regarding the transitional phase and the role of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in this stage. Are you ready to assign all your powers to the transitional government? And how do you understand the term ‘confusion’ if so to speak?
A: That what I elaborated in the initiative we launched in the first month of this year. They say they want a transitional government in which the president has no role. Of course, the president doesn’t head the government. In Syria, we have presidential system, where the president is only interested in the Presidency of the Republic and does not head the cabinet. There is a premier. They demand a government of broad powers. The Syrian constitution grants the cabinet full powers where the President is the General Commander of Army and Armed Forces and the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, while other institutions belong directly to the government.
However, changing the President’s powers is subjected to the constitution. President cannot abandon his powers. He doesn’t own the constitution. The constitution needs popular referendum. When they want to propose these points, they must be proposed in the conference, and when we agree upon something, in case we agree, we must propose it via a referendum and wait for the view of the Syrian people; then we walk that step. But calling for a constitution amendment in advance, neither the president nor the cabinet can implement it. We are incapable of doing so, and we are not constitutionally authorized to do it.
Q: Mr. President, frankly, all the opposing positions, all your political rivals said that they don’t want any role of Assad in the upcoming stage or in the future of Syria. That’s what Saud al-Faissal, the Turks, the Qataris and the Syrian opposition said. Will President Assad run for the next 2014 Presidential elections?
A: I know that Saud al-Faisal is specialized in the American affairs and I don’t know whether he knows something about the Syrian affairs. It’s not wrong if he wants to learn them, it’s not wrong. However, regarding the others’ desires, I reiterate that there will be no will but the will of the Syrian people. As for standing for elections, some have suggested that President is preferred not to run for the 2014 elections. I replied that the issue will be determined at that time. It’s still early to tackle it, but when the time comes and I feel the need to stand for the elections, this need will be again identified by my communication with citizens and my consciousness that they hope for this candidacy, I won’t hesitate. Yet, if I feel that the Syrian people don’t hope for it, it is axiomatic that I will not run for elections. They are wasting time through this dialogue.
Q: Mr. President, you pointed at the Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal. That led me to wonder about the relation of Syria with the Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, especially if we take into consideration their recent stance in the Arab Ministerial Committee. It was semi-moderate. They didn’t call openly and explicitly for President Assad departure. Do you see any change or support by those countries for the political solution of the Syrian crisis? Is Syria ready to deal again with Arab League noting that the Syrian government has recently demanded an apology from the AL?
A: As for the Arab states, we see temporary changes related to the rhetoric and not to the practices. Countries supporting terrorists have not been changed; they are still supporting terrorists at the same level. Turkey has expressed nothing serious also. As for Qatar, it stands on the same side; it stands in the taxpayer position, the bank that offers money for terrorists through which Turkey offers its support. In fact, there isn’t any change. As for the Arab League, we didn’t build hopes on it even in the last decades. We were barely able to succeed in demining in the different meetings held, whether at the Summit or at the foreign ministries levels. Should we expect that it will play any role especially after the latest positions? We are communicating and dealing with everyone. We don’t shut the door. But in fact we must be realistic, we must know that this party is unable to offer anything, especially that the majority of Arab states is dependent and is dictated orders from abroad, some of them stand by our side morally but not in practice and decision. For this reason we don’t build hopes on the Arab League. Let us be clear.
Q: This leads us to wonder that if the Arab atmosphere is like this, amid the developments on ground, the steadfastness, Geneva conference and the negotiation table. It is essential here to ask what will be the repercussions should the political negotiation fails.
A: This possibility is very likely. I mean there are countries trying to hinder this meeting basically, and if they weren’t embarrassed they wouldn’t go. They oppose any dialogue outside or inside Syria. Even the Russian party has tempered expectations for this conference through more than statements. Thus we should be also precise in defining this dialogue and its relations with what happens on ground. Most of these powers that run to speak first about what is going on in Syria, have nothing to do with the Syrian domestic affairs or with the terrorists directly. Terrorists are directly related to those countries in specific cases, and in other cases they are gangs afforded money according to the acts of sabotage they carry out. I don’t think the failure of the conference will leave significant changes in the reality inside Syria. Whether with or without holding a conference, those countries will not stop their support and the gangs will not stop vandalism.
Q: Mr. President, Syria events start to move to the neighboring countries; i.e. the Iraqi scene, Reyhanli bomb blasts in Turkey and the situation in Lebanon: we have Tripoli developments, Ersal and Hezbollah participation in al-Qusayr. How does Syria approach the Lebanese file? And do you believe that self-distancing policy is still valid and acceptable?
A: Let us ask questions from the realities in Syria and Lebanon about the self-distancing policy to say whether I am evaluating it as correct or incorrect policy. We ask a simple question. Has Lebanon been able to prevent the Lebanese intervention in Syria? Has Lebanon been able to prevent smuggling terrorists and weapons into Syrian, or to give them the shelter from Syria to Lebanon? No he hasn’t.
In fact, everybody knows that Lebanon has negatively contributed to the Syrian crisis. Has Lebanon been able recently to protect itself from the repercussions of the Syrian crisis in Lebanon, in Tripoli and in rockets started to land on different areas of Beirut and its surrounding? Practically, neither this nor that. On what self-distancing we are talking? Lebanon distancing itself is something and the government distancing itself is something else. When the government distances itself from specific issue that matters for the citizens, affects them and is related to them, then it is distancing itself from the citizens.
I’m not talking to criticize the Lebanese government, I’m talking general principles. I don’t want anyone to say that I am criticizing the Lebanese government. If the Syrian government wants to distance itself from issues that matter for the Syrian public, it will fail when the problem occurs in neighboring country. When fire breaks out in my neighbor’s house, I can’t say that it is out of my business. That fire will move to my house. Thus we don’t believe this is possible realistically.
Q: What do you say to the Resistance lovers? We are celebrating the victory anniversary, amid Sayyed Nasrallah’s promise of victory you are speaking in a self-assured manner. What do you say to the whole of this audience? Are we to get out of this dark tunnel?
A: I believe that the greatest victory achieved by the Arab resistances during years and decades is primarily an intellectual victory. Military success wouldn’t be achieved if it weren’t for the success and steadfastness before a campaign of concepts marketing and distortion in this region. In Lebanon, there was a motto of 'Lebanon’s strength lies in its weakness' prior to the civil war, which is similar to say that man is evaluated by his stupidity or that honor is reached through corruption. It is illogic contradiction.
The Resistance’s various victories achieved in more than one turning point came to stress that this motto is untrue. Lebanon’s weakness lies in its weakness and Lebanon’s strength lies in its strength. Lebanon’s strength lies in its Resistance. And Lebanon’s strength lies in those Resistance fighters that I talked about. Today, we need this mentality, this steadfastness and these acts carried out by the fighters in this stage more than any other stage, because the events witnessed by the Arab region within two years - or little more – have dropped the concepts to the extent that some Arabs have forgotten that the enemy is Israel. The hostility turned to be internal, local, sectarian, regional, national, etc.
Today, we are relying upon those fighters to remind the Arab peoples or the Arab people – through their achievements - that our enemy is still in the same place. Moreover, as for my confidence in victory, if we didn’t have the confidence in victory, we wouldn’t have the ability to steadfast and to continue to battle after two years of international and global attack. It is not a tripartite aggression as it was in 1956, but in fact, it is an international war launched on Syria and on the resistant approach, for this our confidence in victory is definite. And I ensure them that Syria will remain as it was, even supportive more than before to the Resistance and the Resistance fighters in the whole Arab world.
You are welcome. And I want to congratulate Al-Manar TV; this resisting channel in the anniversary of Liberation. I also congratulate the Lebanese people and every resistant in Lebanon. You are welcome.
