Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned in comments broadcast Friday that the fall of his regime or the breakup of his nation will cause a "domino effect" that will fuel Middle East instability for years, in his sharpest warning yet about the potential fallout of Syria's crisis on neighboring states.
In an interview with the Turkish TV station Ulusal Kanal, broadcast Friday, al-Assad said: "We are surrounded by countries that help terrorists and allow them to enter Syria."
However, he warned that those same countries may eventually pay a price down the road.
"Everybody knows that if the disturbances in Syria reach the point of the country's breakup, or terrorist forces control Syria, or if the two cases happen, then this will immediately spill over into neighboring countries first, and later there will be a domino effect that will reach countries across the Middle East," he said.
Asked whether he would consider giving up, al-Assad said that the wishes of other countries do not affect him.
"I am an elected leader of the Syrian people," he said. "Whether I am a president is determined by the Syrian people, not by foreign states."
"I'm still in Syria, and I live were I've always lived. I'm over ground, not hiding in some shelter. All these are rumors that aim at affecting the morale of the Syrian people," Al-Assad stressed.
He further slammed the United States that has "massacred millions" in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
"The United States has stood by "Israel's" crimes since the latter was founded. It executed massacres in Afghanistan and Iraq; it killed millions, injured millions and inflicted disabilities on millions. France and Britain executed massacres in Libya with American support."
He also criticized Turkey, "which has a hand in the blood flowing in Syria."
"Erdogan cares about the Muslim Brotherhood, not about the ties between Syria and Turkey. Even Turkey is less interesting to him than is the Muslim Brotherhood. Erdogan has not said a single word of truth since the beginning of the crisis in Syria," referring to Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In parallel, he added: "Turkey's government officially harbors terrorists and sends them into Syria. They're also crossing over from Jordan."
From the presidential palace in Damascus, he clarified that "Israel's" apology to Turkey is linked directly to the situation in Syria.
"The question is why didn't he [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] apologize in years passed. What has changed? It's the same Erdogan, it's the same Netanyahu. What has changed is the situation in Syria," al-Assad said.
In this context, he assumed that the apology "shows that Erdogan has entered into a pact with "Israel" in order to damage the situation in Syria."
Al-Assad also referred to the infiltration of terrorists from some other neighbors of Syria and said: "Of course, not necessarily all these countries are doing it on purpose. Iraq, for example, is against the infiltration of terrorists, but it has special circumstances, and cannot control its borders. In Lebanon, there are some different factions that help people who want to infiltrate Syria."
The head of the Syrian state also commented on the Arab League's decision to give a seat to the Syrian opposition: "Real legitimacy is not accorded by organizations or foreign officials. All these theatrics have no value in our eyes."
"The Arab League lacks legitimacy. It's a league that represents the Arab states, not the Arab people, so it can't grant or retract legitimacy," al-Assad said.
On the national level, al-Assad reiterated he would welcome talks with his internal opponents.
"The only red line is about foreign intervention," he said. "Any dialogue should include only Syrians. It should not include foreign intervention. We have no other red lines from this. Syrians can talk about and discuss anything. This country is for all Syrians, and they can bring all things to the table."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
