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PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD'S INTERVIEW WITH AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, Syria
Jan 20 2014
[parts omitted]
AFP: Through these years, what was the most difficult situation you
went through?
President Assad: It's not necessarily a particular situation but
rather group of elements. There are several things that were hard
to come to terms with, and they are still difficult. The first, I
believe, is terrorism; the degree of savagery and inhumanity that the
terrorists have reached reminds us of what happened in the Middle Ages
in Europe over 500 years ago. In more recent modern times, it reminds
us of the massacres perpetrated by the Ottomans against the Armenians
when they killed a million and a half Armenians and half a million
Orthodox Syriacs in Syria and in Turkish territory. The other aspect
that is difficult to understand is the extent of Western officials'
superficiality in their failure to understand what happened in this
region, and their subsequent inability to have a vision for the
present or for the future. They are always very late in realizing
things, sometimes even after the situation has been overtaken by a
new reality that is completely different. The third thing that is
difficult to understand is the extent of influence of petrodollars
in changing roles on the international arena. For instance, how Qatar
was transformed from a marginal state to a powerful one, while France
has become a proxy state implementing Qatari policies. This is also
what we see happening now between France and Saudi Arabia. How can
petrodollars make western officials, particularly in France, sell
their principles and sell the principles of the French Revolution
in return for a few billion dollars? These are only a few things,
among others, which are difficult for one to understand and accept.
Read the full interview at http://sana.sy/eng/21/2014/01/21/523329.htm
Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, Syria
Jan 20 2014
[parts omitted]
AFP: Through these years, what was the most difficult situation you
went through?
President Assad: It's not necessarily a particular situation but
rather group of elements. There are several things that were hard
to come to terms with, and they are still difficult. The first, I
believe, is terrorism; the degree of savagery and inhumanity that the
terrorists have reached reminds us of what happened in the Middle Ages
in Europe over 500 years ago. In more recent modern times, it reminds
us of the massacres perpetrated by the Ottomans against the Armenians
when they killed a million and a half Armenians and half a million
Orthodox Syriacs in Syria and in Turkish territory. The other aspect
that is difficult to understand is the extent of Western officials'
superficiality in their failure to understand what happened in this
region, and their subsequent inability to have a vision for the
present or for the future. They are always very late in realizing
things, sometimes even after the situation has been overtaken by a
new reality that is completely different. The third thing that is
difficult to understand is the extent of influence of petrodollars
in changing roles on the international arena. For instance, how Qatar
was transformed from a marginal state to a powerful one, while France
has become a proxy state implementing Qatari policies. This is also
what we see happening now between France and Saudi Arabia. How can
petrodollars make western officials, particularly in France, sell
their principles and sell the principles of the French Revolution
in return for a few billion dollars? These are only a few things,
among others, which are difficult for one to understand and accept.
Read the full interview at http://sana.sy/eng/21/2014/01/21/523329.htm