Syrian MP to ST: Idlib will never be another Northern Cyprus

The Member of the Syrian Parliament, Dr. Ahmad Kuzbari, has underscored that the Turkish regime will never succeed in making Idlib province, another Northern Cyprus, and the Syrian army will raise the national flag in the eastern bank of the Euphrates.

His remarks were made during an interview with Syriatimes     e-newspaper about the political process, the Turkish and US presence in Syria, and the so-called Syrian moderate opposition and constitutional committee.  

The parliamentarian asserted that the Turkish forces which exist in the north of Syria are occupiers and they will leave the Syrian territories sooner or later.

“I think that there is no justification for the occupation. Erdogan’s face has been smeared with dirt when the whole world realized that he is supporting terrorist groups and when his brotherhood project that aimed at reviving the Ottoman empire failed, not to mention his exploitation of the Syrian refugees issue.” The MP said, reminding us of the Turkish invasion of the north of Cyprus in 1974 where Turkey was one of the guarantor powers for Cyprus’ security.

 

“Turkey will never succeed in making Idlib another Northern Cyprus because it will pay a high price for its manipulation of the European security. Actually, Turkey’s dream of reviving the Ottoman power will lead to its exclusion from NATO as an independent player”, stated Dr. Kuzbari.

 He referred to the fact the Turkish regime blackmailed the Europeans with the issue of refugees and it practiced state terrorism.

“The Turkish regime acts as Kalifate that seeks to be the ruler of 1.5 billion Muslims. I think there will be heterogeneous alliances that will lead to the fall of the idiots,” the politician affirmed.

Outcomes of talks

When asked about Astana, Geneva and Sochi talks on Syria, Dr. Kuzbari made it clear that the track of Astana has positive outcomes unlike the Geneva track.

“Since the very beginning, Geneva talks on Syria was aimed at undermining the Syrian state’s authority plus fragmenting its land and its society structure not only through turning a blind eye to terrorism but also through providing terrorists with money, arms and logistic facilities. All rounds of Geneva talks achieved nothing. Therefore, the countries that are really interested in ending the war on Syria and implementing international law and legitimacy have created another track .i.e. the Astana track to support the Geneva track,” he said.

The parliamentarian, who is a member of the Syrian Arab Republic’s delegation to Astana, Sochi and Geneva talks, pointed out that the ceasefire and the establishment of de-escalation zones are among the positive outcomes of Astana talks. 

“When the countries that are involved in the war in Syria have seen these positive outcomes, they have boycotted the Astana talks and have attacked it claiming that the Geneva talks are the only track for reaching a political solution to the crisis in Syria despite the attendance of the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Steffan De Mistura at all sessions of Astana,” said Dr. Kuzbari.

He indicated that the Syrian government handed the Iranian and Russian guarantors, during the last meeting held in Sochi, a primary list including the names of 16,000 persons abducted by the terrorist groups.

“The formation of the constitutional committee was also discussed in Sochi talks,” Dr. Kuzbari said, stressing that the political solution will only be reached by the Syrian people and under the Syrian leadership without any foreign intervention.

Cause of war

“Here we pose the following question: Was the internal situation in pre-war Syria the cause of its war? and was it the cause of destruction of its cities and infrastructures? The answer is definitely NO. Everyone knew how well the situation in Syria was before the damned war. It was one of the safest countries in the world and it was making progress in all aspects, including its political sector. Syria was a self-sufficient country, that exported wheat, cotton, phosphate and oil, and had no IMF (International Monetary Fund) debt. So, we have to read the map carefully and to know the importance of Syria’s position both geographically and politically. Then, we can understand the reason for what happened and is still going on in Syria.

Political solution

The parliamentarian clarified that the war in Syria is between the Syrian state and terrorism. When the Syrian army started to defend its homeland and its sovereignty, it was accused of using military power and the slogan of a ‘political solution’ was launched where some western and regional countries started to define this slogan in their own terms, and put different mechanisms to implement it.

“For the Syrian state, the ‘political solution’ slogan means a comprehensive Syrian national dialogue between Syrians themselves and without any foreign intervention on one hand, and fighting terrorism and defending Syria’s sovereignty, safety and unity on the other.” Dr. Kuzbari indicated that the Syrian government acted positively towards any initiative that aimed at stopping bloodshed in the absence of any party that believes in a political solution and higher national interests, far from all foreign intervention and agendas. Therefore, Dr. Kuzbari states that the Syrian government has very clear views on the political solution and have blueprinted all necessary steps.

“The Syrian government is working hard to reach local reconciliation deals and the return of displaced persons and refugees to their cities and towns and providing them with necessary aid despite the unjust economic sanctions being imposed on Syria, whilst keeping in mind that Syria has been under tough American pressure since the American occupation of Iraq in order to force the Syrian government to follow their policies in the region. Furthermore, the United States released a ‘Syrian Sanctions Program” in 2003, using the excuse that Damascus is not serious about defeating terrorism.

Opposition

 “As for the fate of the so-called the ‘Syrian moderate opposition’ backed by western and regional countries, the MP asserted that the members of this opposition are connected with terrorist groups in Syria, acting as two faces of the same coin. Nonetheless, it is natural that the moderate opposition groups are vanishing after the elimination of terrorist groups by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies. This opposition was formed by the countries that supported and funded the war on Syria in order to topple the Syrian state. Therefore, the opposition acts as their puppets that withholds no public support and no political, economic or social plans. All that this so-called moderate opposition has is its hatred of the Syrian state and its loyalty to those who pay them money”, argues Dr. Kuzbari.

As for the US withdrawal from al-Tanf base in Syria, the politician clarified that this matter is linked to three points: the guarantee of Israel’s safety, the international rapprochements between active players, and the energy resources, precisely gas.

“There are studies presuming that the largest gas fields exist in al-Tanaf area, and I think that the Americans are secretly trying to prove this. On the other hand, the Americans are playing with the wasted time by trying to hinder an agreement concerning Eastern Euphrates, between the Syrian government and the Kurdish forces, however, the Syrian army will surely enter that area and will raise the Syrian flag there.

Constitutional committee

Regarding, the constitutional committee, Dr. Kuzbari said that there is nothing called ‘ constitutional committee’ so far but there is an agreement on setting up a committee to study the current constitution and to propose amendments to the Sochi conference.

“Since more than four months ago, the Syrian government had submitted a list of 50 nominees for the proposed constitutional committee, and we heard that the so-called the opposition submitted the list of its nominees too. But the list of experts from NGOs and independent persons- in accordance with Resolution No. 2245- has not been submitted to Mr. De Mistura yet.”

In 2011, a committee was formed to draw up a draft of the current constitution that meet all demands and it was adopted by the Syrian people following a referendum vote. However, this constitution was issued in 2012 and was not the cup of tea for war engineers of Syria. Therefore, they started with the so-called Geneva track in an attempt to change the political system in Syria from a semi-presidential style to a parliamentary system for reducing the powers of the President and transferring his powers into the hands of the Prime Minister. But this will never happen because the majority of the Syrian people chose the current political system and voted for the current constitution.

“Personally speaking, the current constitution is modern and most of those who are criticizing it have not read it and they mainly aim to turn Syria into a failed state,” said Dr. Kuzbari, who chairs the Constitutional and Legislative Committee in the Syrian People’s Assembly [Parliament.

He affirmed that the Syrian government is open to any amendment deemed necessary and appropriate by the Syrian people.

The parliamentarian concluded by saying: “The Syrian Arab  Army will liberate all Syrian areas from terrorist groups because those who have carried weapons against the legitimate state are outlaws no matter how they have been described by the others.”

 

Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour