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April 3rd, 2016 
Awake Goy Alwaght-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad named Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and Britain among countries that “are counting on our defeat on the battlefield in order to impose their conditions at the negotiations.
In an exclusive interview with Dmitry Kiselev, the director general of Rossiya Segodnya (incorporating Sputnik and RIA Novosti news agencies) President Assad added that “So these military actions and successes will lead to the acceleration of the political settlement, and not prevent it,” Assad said. The president also stressed the need to continue fighting terrorism within Syria, as well as in Iraq, accusing Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Kingdom of providing support to terror groups instead of eradicating them. “Terrorism – that’s the real problem. We must fight it on the international level, because terrorism affects not only Syria. Terrorism exists in Iraq. It is directly supported by Turkey. It is directly supported by the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia, as well as a number of Western states, especially France and the United Kingdom,” Assad said.
Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, have “crossed all possible red lines, possibly from the first weeks of the Syrian war,” Assad said.
“Today, the war against (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and against Saudi Arabia is a war against terrorists. The Turkish army, which is not even Turkish, is Erdogan’s army that is fighting today in Syria,” he added.
Everything that Ankara and Riyadh “have done from the very beginning can be considered aggression. Aggression in a political sense or in a military sense – providing terrorists with arms – or direct aggression with the use of artillery, and other military violations,” he stressed.
Erdogan is directly supporting the terrorists as “he allows them to move into Turkish territory, to carry out maneuvers with tanks,” the Syrian president said. “This concerns not only individuals, he finances them [terrorists] through Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and through Turkey itself, of course,” he said.
According to Assad, his Turkish counterpart “trades oil that has been stolen by ISIS terrorist group, at the same time carrying out artillery attacks against the Syrian army – when it moves close – in order to help the terrorists.”According to the President, countermeasures to Turkey’s aggressive actions must first of all take place within Syrian territory.
Successful strikes against terrorists in the country will lead to the failure of policies pursued by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he added. “They are terrorists and when we attack these terrorists in Syria, this leads to Erdogan’s direct defeat,” Assad said.
However, Assad stressed that there was no dispute between the peoples of Syria and Turkey.
The relations between the two countries will be “good” if Erdogan stops interfering in Syrian affairs, he explained. During the interview, Assad also expressed readiness to call an early presidential election in Syria if the people desire one.
“This depends on the Syrian people’s stance, on whether there is a popular will to hold early presidential elections. If there is such a will, this is not a problem for me. It is natural to respond to the will of the people and not to that of certain opposition forces,” he said. “The president cannot work without the people’s support,” the Syrian leader added.
If the election takes place, every Syrian citizen, including those who left because of war, should be able to take part in the voting, he said.“This issue concerns every Syrian citizen because every citizen votes for the president,” Assad stressed.
Assad also recalled his surprise visit to Moscow last autumn, which came less than two weeks after Russia began its bombing campaign against the terrorists in Syria on September 30, 2015.
“That visit was made under special circumstances,” he said, adding that no documents were signed during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The talks in the Russian capital mainly revolved around two issues: “Firstly, the military operation, which had begun at the time, and as a consequence, the need to strike a blow at terrorism. Secondly, we focused on how we could use the military operation to support the political process,” the Syrian president told Sputnik.
President Assad also addressed the issue of the Russian military presence in Syria, saying he does not see it as occupation, but rather as means to help strengthen stability and security in the country.
“With Russia we have relations that are over six decades old, they are built on trust and clarity… when Russian military bases appear in Syria, it’s not occupation, on the contrary – it’s the strengthening of friendship and ties, it’s the strengthening of stability and security. And that’s just what we want,” Assad said.
Throughout all five years of the conflict Damascus has always been ready to negotiate and remained flexible, even when dealing with unfriendly opponents, putting everything at stake to find a compromise, years before Russia intervened in the Syrian crisis militarily.
“The goal is not to miss a single chance for settlement, without [first] trying it,” Assad said, adding that “If [you] go back to the policy of the Syrian state five years ago, we responded to all the initiatives, without exception, coming from all sides – even if they were not friendly.“We went to Geneva and continue to show flexibility,” Assad said.
“The support provided by friends of Syria and the military achievements of the Syrian Army — all this will lead to an acceleration of the political settlement, and not the opposite. We have not changed our position, not before the support from Russia nor after,” the president stressed.
The president also noted that despite a number of unresolved issues, the draft of a new constitution for Syria is likely to be ready by August – the target time outlined by US Secretary of State John Kerry following talks in Moscow.
“A draft version of the constitution will be possibly ready within a few weeks. Experts are present, we have finished proposals that can be assembled together. As for August, it is a suitable and sufficient time,” Assad said.
“A few issues remain, and not with respect to how much time will be spent on formulating the text of the constitution, the question is – what will the political process that we will use to discuss the constitution be,” he underlined.
Commenting on the possible federalization of the country, Assad said he does not see it working out, while expressing a firm belief that the majority of Kurds want to live in a united Syria.
“We must not confuse Kurds who want a federal regime with all Kurds.
From the geographical perspective, Syria is a very small country for federalization to exist in it. I do not think that Syria is ready for federalization, there are no natural factors for it to be possible.” Assad stressed, however, that “in the end, as a state, we will agree to everything that the people agree to.” Concerning the format of the new Syrian government, the Syrian president stated it should be agreed upon in Geneva. “That’s the goal of ‘Geneva’ – an intra-Syrian dialogue during which we will agree on the format of this government. Of course, we have not yet worked out a final understanding, because other Syrian parties have not yet agreed to this principle.”
He added that “it is logical that independent forces should be represented there [in the government], as well as opposition forces and forces loyal to the government.” Commenting on the liberation of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, President Assad said it had been made possible by the will of the Syrian people to cleanse their land from terrorists.
“How do we do it? Simple. We had the desire to cleanse Syria completely from terrorists. There is no other option to protect Syria, but to fight against terrorism. And we have the will, the Syrian people, the Syrian army have the will to cleanse each region [from ISIS]. At the same time our friends support us – Russian support has been a major and effective part of achieving these results.”
The President expressed disappointment at the reluctance of the global community to acknowledge the liberation of Palmyra.
“So far this news has not been taken in. In fact, some in the world have realized it, but do not want to believe. It’s been two days after the release of Palmyra, and a number of countries involved in the supposed battle against terrorism and part of the international US-led coalition, have not yet reacted to the news. There is a reason for it – the occupation of Palmyra a year ago was clear evidence of the coalition’s failure, lack of serious approach in the fight against terrorism, particularly in dealing with ISIS.“
By Al Waght
Source Article from http://theiranproject.com/blog/2016/04/03/turkey-saudi-arabia-france-britain-supporting-terrorists-syria-assad/
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