Assad Plans to Remain President Until 2021

• 11.03.2016, 15:51
•  Near East,  World

SANA

"I’m just a headline - the bad president, the bad guy, who is killing the good guys. The real reason is toppling the government. This government doesn’t fit the criteria of the United States," Syrian president Bashar Assad said in an interview to the British and American journalists in Damascus, The New York Times reports. Assad spoke of every Syrian’s right to be "a full citizen", comparing "intolerant versions of religion to a computer operating system that needed to be updated".

The Syrian President said a new era of dialogue was underway in Syria. Assad is sure in the victory of his forces and declares that he planned to remain President at least until his third seven-year term ends in 2021.

Of course, Western countries insist these statements are not true, focusing on the fact that "Assad is killing his own people." And it is quite natural that the British and American journalists could not avoid this issue. Assad answered them in English: "Let’s suppose that these allegations are correct and this President has killed his own people, and the free world and the West are helping the Syrian people. After five years and a half, who supported me? How can I be a President and my people don’t support me? This is not a realistic story".

It should be noted that the Western forces cannot oppose this fact. Even the journalist of the New York Times Anne Barnard, who has wrote the text on the basis of allegations against Assad, has to accept that "Assad has managed to hold on not only because of intervention by foreign fighters, but also because of deeper support in some quarters".

The Syrian President emphasized that "much of his support came from people, who may dislike his policies or the Baath Party he heads, but they fear that the alternative would be extremist rule or state collapse." "They learned the value of the state," he said.

And despite the hardest situation inside and outside the country, the Syrian authorities are sure in their victory and they are not going to concede the US. "Until this moment, we still have a dialogue with the US through different channels. But that doesn’t mean to give up our sovereignty and transfer Syria into a puppet country," Assad said. Earlier Syrian Foreign Minister said "it is up to the West to rethink about their policies."