Syrian president Assad on a decade of struggle, blames terrorism for destruction in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday evening that terrorism caused destruction in Syria, saying those who supported terrorism should be held accountable. Assad spoke in an interview with Sky News Arabia, his first interview with a foreign media outlet in months. Assad also denied rumours of an upcoming meeting between him and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan despite meetings between Turkey and Syria’s defense and foreign ministers under Russian and Iranian mediation to restore strained ties. Turkey is a main backer of armed opposition fighters who have been trying to remove Assad from power and has carried out three major incursions into northern Syria since 2016. Turkish forces control parts of northern Syria. Damascus maintains that Ankara must put forward a timetable for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria in order to normalize relations. According to Assad, if Syria had followed the demands of certain countries, the war could have been prevented. However, doing so would have come at the expense of the rights and interests of the Syrian people. Editor: FU __________________ ShanghaiEye focuses on producing top-quality contents. Nobody knows SHANGHAI better than us. Please subscribe to us ☻☻☻ __________________ For more stories, please click ■ What’s up today in Shanghai, the most updated news of the city ■ Amazing Shanghai, exploring the unknown corners of the city, learning the people, food and stories behind them ■ What Chinese people’s lives are like during the post COVID-19 period ■ Views of foreign scholars on China and its affairs ■ Foreign faces in Shanghai, people living in this city sharing their true feelings ■ Mini-docs showing why China is the country it is today __________________ ☎Leave us messages if you have any suggestions or questions! Thank you!