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President Bashar al-Assad said in the second part of the interview he gave to the Russian news agencies RIA Novosti and Spuntik that the Syrian state is prepared to accept any militant who wants to lay down his weapon.

The President made it clear that there is a public opinion in Syria that wants the Russian military support to stop.

He explained that since terrorism, though reduced, is still strong due to its supporters in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others, so, the size of the Russian forces in the country should not be less than the force necessary to fight terrorism.

The Russian presence, he added, is linked to the issue of fighting terrorism, and later to the geopolitical condition in the world.

He also stressed that the issue of holding early presidential elections is up to popular will.

President al-Assad: “Everything Erdogan has done is an aggression in every sense of the word. We can say that we have lost patience and lost hope a long time ago that this person might change. But today, the war against Erdogan and Saudi Arabia takes place through striking at the terrorists, for Erdogan’s army, not the Turkish army, consists of the terrorists fighting in Syria today. When we strike at these terrorists in Syria, this will lead to defeating Erdogan directly. So, our response should be inside Syria first. I believe when we defeat terrorism, the Turkish people is not against Syria, and has no animosity towards Syria, the relations will be good. This is in case Erdogan remained in his place.”

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President Assad: “Geographically speaking, Syria is too small for a federal state. It is probably smaller than most of the republics in the Russian Federation. Socially speaking, a federation needs social constituencies which cannot live with each other. This does not exist in Syrian history. In principle, I do not believe that Syria is prepared for federalism. There are no natural factors which might lead to federalism. Ultimately, of course, we as a state say that we agree to whatever the Syrian people agree to. The question of federalism is linked to the constitution, and the constitution needs popular endorsement”.

“But there is a concept which needs to be corrected in relation to Kurdish federalism. Most Kurds want to live in a unified Syria, under a central system, not in a federal system, in the political sense. So, we shouldn’t confuse some of the Kurds who want a federal system, on the one hand, with all the Kurds on the other. There might be other very small constituencies, not only the Kurds, who seek federalism. But the idea of federalism is not a general proposition in Syria; and I don’t believe that if it was put to the vote, will be endorsed by the Syrian people”.

“There are no other ways to protect Syria than by fighting terrorism. Of course, there’s the political process too, but the fight against terrorism is key. And we have such a will, the Syrian people has a will, the Syrian army is determined to free each region,” Assad said.

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