Syria, 2012

I would like to congratulate Mr. Vuk Jeremić

and his friendly country, the Republic of Serbia, on his

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-seventh session and to wish him every success

in conducting our work in a way that restores to the

Assembly President his important and neutral role in

fulfilling his duties without regard for any political,

national or international agendas that violate the rules

of international law and contradict efforts to achieve

security and stability in the world. We also wish the

Secretary-General every success in carrying out his

duties and enhancing the purposes and principles

enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Our world today faces many events that are

affecting its States and continue to cast their shadow

on the international arena. Many countries are facing

political, economic and financial crises, whose their

negative consequences exceed the capacity of States to

cope with them individually.

While the peoples of the world await effective and

coordinated international efforts to overcome those

crises, the situation indicates instead an escalation

of hegemony and domination over the fortunes

and potentials of nations and peoples in a way that

contradicts the principles and purposes enshrined in

the Charter and the norms of international law. Instead of seeking to contribute to the settlement of

regional and international disputes by peaceful means,

some well-known countries continue to pursue new

colonial policies based on political hypocrisy in dealing

with those crises. Under the pretext of humanitarian

intervention, these countries interfere in the domestic

affairs of States and impose unilateral economic

sanctions that lack any moral or legal basis. Under the

pretext of concepts such as the responsibility to protect,

the drums of war are beaten and the seeds of sedition

and unrest are sown to damage the structure of national

societies. Perhaps worse of all, permanent members

of the Security Council, who have launched wars

under the pretext of combating terrorism, now support

terrorism in my country, without any regard for United

Nations resolutions that established the regulations and

mechanisms for concerted international efforts to fight

this scourge without political polarization or double

standards.

For over a year now, my country has faced organized

terrorism that has affected our citizens, our human and

scientific cadres, our national institutions and many of

Syria’s historic and archeological landmarks through

terrorist bombings, assassinations, massacres, looting

and acts of sabotage that have horrified citizens in

many parts of the country. The most recent example

is the terrorist bombing that took place in Damascus

on 26 September. A terrorist group under the name of

the Al-Nusra Front, one of Al-Qaida’s affiliates, took

responsibility for that attack.

It is no surprise that the Security Council has

failed to condemn this and other terrorist bombings,

as some of its members support such acts. This

terrorism is externally supported and is accompanied

by unprecedented media incitement seeking to ignite

religious extremism sponsored by well-known States

in the region. Those States facilitate the f low of arms,

money and fighters through the borders of some

neighbouring countries. They also turn a blind eye to

the activities of terrorist groups crossing their borders,

while others provide active material and logistical

support from their territory for such groups.

These facts lead me to question whether the

international consensus among Member States on

combating terrorism was serious or merely ink on

paper. How should we understand the explicit request

by the United States to the armed terrorist groups

not to surrender their arms in response to amnesty

decrees and decisions issued by the Syrian leadership?

We also wonder about the statements by Qatar, Saudi

Arabia, Turkey, the United States, France and others

who explicitly induce and support terrorism in Syria

with money, weapons and foreign fighters. To what

extent are those statements in line with those countries’

international responsibility to combat terrorism?

One of the ironies that we face today is evident in the

efforts to encourage extremists in countries within and

outside our region to go to the Syrian border and enter

the country to carry out terrorist acts under the banner

of jihad, in collaboration with terrorists from within

the country. This is a fact that has been confirmed by

reports by both international and Arab observers. To

this very day, and as a result of this terrorism, Syria

has lost thousands of martyrs from among its military

ranks and its civilians. This is the price that Syria has

paid for its efforts to defend the integrity of the Syrian

State and its citizens in the face of that global terrorist

campaign.

The Syrian Government called for dialogue at the

beginning of the events in my country, but there was

no positive response from most opposition parties.

Moreover, my Government responded positively

throughout the crisis to each and every sincere

initiative aimed at finding a peaceful solution based

on national dialogue among Syrians, rejecting external

manipulation, stopping the shedding of Syrian blood

and preserving the unity of Syria and its future.

Based on this principled position, Syria cooperated

with the Arab observer mission and the subsequent

international initiatives linked to the work of the Joint

Special Envoy, Kofi Annan. We did so despite the

conviction of the Syrian leadership that there are no

sincere intentions on the part of certain regional and

international parties who push for the escalation of the

Syrian crisis, fuel its fire and prolong it by thwarting all

attempts for dialogue, and insist on creating a state of

instability to ensure the need for foreign interference.

Syria, on the basis of its principled position,

received the United Nations Supervision Mission in

the Syrian Arab Republic (UNSMIS), and furnished it

with all the facilities needed to enable it to deploy in

record time. The Syrian leadership also announced its

full commitment to the implementation of the six-point

plan presented by Mr. Annan and started the practical

implementation of its provisions. It also welcomed the

Geneva communiqué (A/66/865, annex) that stressed

the need for the implementation of those provisions. However, the armed groups sought to exploit the Syrian

Government’s commitment to the plan and the Geneva

communiqué in order to make gains on the ground

and expand the area of their presence. In addition, the

statements issued by some Western and Arab countries

exposed the actors and States working to thwart these

initiatives.

Syria welcomed the appointment of Mr. Lakhdar

Brahimi as the Joint Special Representative, succeeding

Mr. Annan, and stressed its willingness to cooperate

fully with him based on the principles agreed on by the

international community, in particular the six-point plan

and the Geneva final communiqué (S/2012/523, annex).

I should point out that, in addition to the commitment of

the Syrian Government, the success of any international

effort requires that the States supporting armed groups

in my country — in particular Turkey, Saudi Arabia,

Qatar and Libya, among others — stop arming, funding,

training and harbouring armed terrorist groups, and

instead encourage dialogue and renounce violence.

For more than a year now, we have said that what

my country is witnessing is a two-sided problem: one

side is based on the need for the political, economic

and social reforms that the public demands; the other

is based on the exploitation of those public needs and

demands in the service of goals that are completely

unconnected to the demands of the Syrian people and

their interests, and for which those peaceful demands

are being used as a vehicle for armed groups working

to sow sedition and undermine security in my country.

I referred to that in my statement from this rostrum

last year (see A/66/PV.25). I have returned today to

tell the Assembly that the Syrian Government has

taken serious and important steps towards reform,

culminating in a new Constitution that embraces

political pluralism and that has been adopted by popular

referendum. As a result, parliamentary elections open

to multiple political parties were held. I can also say

that Syria is continuing to work with patriotic members

of the opposition to build a new and pluralist Syria that

is responsive to its people’s aspirations. At the same

time, Syria is determined to fulfil its duty to protect its

people from jihadist and takfiri terrorism, which armed

terrorist groups are using to spread chaos and sedition

among Syrians, threatening their peaceful coexistence.

There have been calls from this rostrum and at

other forums asking the President of the Syrian Arab

Republic to step down, made by people who are ignorant

of or ignore the facts, or who have a stake in distorting them. That is blatant interference in the domestic affairs

of Syria, which undermines the unity of its people and

the sovereignty of its decision-making. Only the people

of Syria have the right to choose their own future and

the form of their State — one that accommodates all

groups and parties covering the entire spectrum of

the Syrian people, including those who have been

deceived and misled. It is the Syrian people who will

choose their leadership through the ballot box, which is

the most important tool of democracy and democratic

expression.

If some of the countries that are interfering in

Syria’s internal affairs are proud of their democracy and

their people’s freedom to choose, it would be better for

them to support us on our democratic path and leave the

Syrian people to choose their leaders through elections,

whose form has been set by the new Constitution and the

relevant legislation, after which the ballot box will have

the final say. I say to those countries that we have had

enough of illusions, and I invite the national opposition

to work together to stop the shedding of Syrian blood, to

sit at the negotiation table and to participate in building

the present and future.

We are not betting on any party or faction apart from

the Syrian people, who are uniformly determined to

reject all forms of foreign interference in their domestic

affairs and to defeat the advocates of sectarianism,

extremism and terrorism, because in my country the

links between State policies and the aspirations of the

people are very strong.

Despite everything I have described about what my

country is experiencing, we still believe in a political

solution as the essential way out of this crisis. From this

rostrum I call, first, on all parties and political groups

and factions, inside and outside Syria, to engage in a

constructive dialogue under the aegis of our homeland.

The doors of Syria, like its heart, are open to anyone

who wants constructive dialogue. To that end, I call

on all countries represented in the General Assembly

to exert pressure to end the violence in my country by

putting a stop to the arming, financing, harbouring and

training of armed terrorist groups. Secondly, the results

of that national dialogue, after being agreed on by all

parties, will determine the map and future direction of

the country towards establishing a more pluralistic and

democratic Syria.

The events in Syria have produced a surge in

humanitarian needs in several key sectors in areas

affected by takfiri terrorist groups, which has led to deteriorating living conditions for Syrian citizens

who live there. While my Government is working

hard to meet the basic needs of citizens who have

been forced to f lee their homes by the violence of

armed groups, some have sought to fabricate a refugee

crisis in neighbouring countries by inciting armed

groups to intimidate Syrian civilians in border areas,

forcing them to f lee to those countries. There they are

accommodated in military training bases or camps that

resemble places of detention, in arid or rugged regions.

Their plight is being exploited in order to secure aid

that is mostly spent on things that have nothing to do

with humanitarian purposes. I appeal to those Syrian

citizens from this rostrum to return to their towns and

villages, where the State will guarantee their safe return

and dignified lives, free from the inhuman conditions

they are enduring in those camps.

At this point, I would like to ask a legitimate

question about the credibility of those who claim

to care about providing humanitarian assistance in

response to Syrian citizens’ needs, and about how such

claims correspond with a policy of tightening unilateral

economic sanctions that have a severe effect on those

same citizens’ living conditions, whose interests

those imposing the sanctions claim to serve. How can

imposing sanctions on the banking, health, transport

and other sectors be consistent with caring for Syrians’

best interests?

I also wonder if the legitimate public demands of our

citizens, to which the Syrian leadership has responded

transparently and sincerely, justify their being used by

some as an excuse to continue providing every kind

of military, financial and media support to those who

are killing innocent people in Syria — who include

journalists, doctors, university professors and even

religious figures. Or is this simply another practical

interpretation of the concept of creative chaos, which

contributes only to strengthening Western hegemony

over Mediterranean countries, and serves only Israel’s

expansionist interests?

What is happening in my country must not lead

us to lose our basic focus, which is Palestine and the

Syrian Golan. The Syrian Arab Republic therefore

reaffirms its natural right to recover all of the occupied

Syrian Golan up to the 4 June 1967 borders. Syria

underscores its rejection of all measures taken by Israel,

the occupying Power, to change the natural geographic

and other aspects of the Golan, in clear violation of the resolution 497 (1981).

Syria renews its support for the legitimate call

on the international community to recognize a free

and independent Palestinian State on the Palestinian

territories occupied in 1967. As everyone knows, the

failure of efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive

peace in the Middle East on the basis of the international

terms of reference endorsed by the international

community as a basis for peace between Palestinians

and Israelis is due to the unilateral positions and actions

of Israel, especially Israel’s insistence on continuing its

settlement policy and its evasion of the requirements

of peace.

My country renews its call for the international

community to work to rid the Middle East of all

weapons of mass destruction. In that context, we recall

the initiative put forward by Syria in late 2003, during

its tenure as a non-permanent member in the Security

Council for the period 2002 to 2003, and we call on the

Council to adopt it. Syria stresses that ridding the region

of all weapons of mass destruction cannot be achieved

without forcing Israel, the only nuclear Power in the

region, to adhere to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation

of Nuclear Weapons and to place its nuclear facilities

under the comprehensive inspections regime of the

International Atomic Energy Agency. At the same time,

we emphasize the Treaty’s provisions guaranteeing the

right of every State to acquire nuclear technology for

peaceful purposes.

The insistence of the United States and countries

of the European Union and others to impose unilateral

economic measures violates the rules and norms of

international law and the principles of free trade. It

also raises questions about the legality and morality of

such practices. On that basis, we call for the lifting of

the embargo that the United States has imposed against

Cuba for decades. We also renew our call for ending

all unilateral coercive measures imposed on the peoples

of other countries, such as the Bolivarian Republic of

Venezuela, Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the

Syrian Arab Republic and the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea.

Our aspiration to achieve a positive reform of this

international Organization stems from our desire to

create a world based on justice, security and prosperity

for all the peoples of the world, free from the colonial

and hegemonic tendencies of some countries that seek to exploit the United Nations to achieve their own

interests at the expense of other countries.

We hope that the United Nations can take the

peoples of the world to a better future that fulfils their

aspirations for life, coexistence, development and food

sufficiency, free from all forms of tension, confrontation

and war, in accordance with the purposes and

principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which

seek to preserve the sovereignty and equality of States

in rights and duties.