Al-Moallem: Neither Obama nor anybody else can decide for the Syrian people

New York – The U.S. President Barack Obama and other officials should understand that only the Syrian people have the right to determine their future, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Tuesday.

“I said this to John Kerry at Geneva 2 conference and I repeat it now: ‘Neither Obama nor anybody else can determine the choice of the Syrian people,’” al-Moallem told the journalists in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, SANA reported.

 In his comments on Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s statements that the Turkish borders are now closed before the terrorists, al-Moallem expressed hope that Davutoglu is honest this time “as we are used to plenty of statements made by Turkish officials, but nothing real on the ground.”

“If [Davutoglu] is serious about fighting terrorism and protecting his people against this terrorism, they have to coordinate with Syria,” al-Moallem added.

He stressed that the cooperation between Syria, Russia, Iran and Iraq against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is “very helpful” for putting an end to terrorism. “We support what the Russian President Vladimir Putin is up to in this regard.”

In a relevant context, al-Moallem reviewed with Czech President Milos Zeman the terrorist crimes committed by ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organizations.

Stressing the top priority of fighting terrorism, al-Moallem called on the international community to cooperate through committing to the UN Security Council’s resolutions on fighting terrorism and obliging the countries that are supporting and arming the terrorist organizations to stop.

For his part, Zeman voiced his country’s support for the Syrian people and their legitimate government and asked al-Moallem to convey his greetings to President Bashar al-Assad.

Al-Moallem also met with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed with him the situation in Syrian and Palestine.

He stressed that Israel continues ignoring the Palestinian people’ rights and providing military and medical support to the terrorists.

Abbas, for his part, stressed the importance of facing the Israeli schemes in the region and ends its hostility towards the Palestinian people, mainly stopping the attempts of Judaizing Jerusalem city and the destroying al-Aqsa mosque.