Translated material
Bashar al-Assad promised the Turks the fate of terrorists in the event of an invasion
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, said that if Turkey and Saudi Arabia launch a ground operation in Syria, they will be treated as terrorists. According to him, he will have no choice but to defend his territory.
Bashar al-Assad also said that he is ready for a truce, but first conditions must be created so that the forces opposing him do not use the ceasefire for their own purposes. In particular, he fears that during the ceasefire, Turkey will begin massive arms deliveries to his rebel opponents.
According to Assad, until the rebels lay down their arms, he is not ready to negotiate with them. If they surrender, they will be amnestied, the Syrian president assured.
“This is already happening, lately [they hand over their weapons] more and more often. Many of them have surrendered and joined the Syrian army to fight against the Islamic State (banned as a terrorist organization in Russia),” Assad said.
- Syria has been in a civil war since 2011. It involves three main parties: the rebels, the Syrian army and the Islamic State. Hundreds of thousands of people died during the war; more than five million people became refugees.
- On February 16, 2016, Turkey called on the United States to take part in a joint ground operation in Syria to fight the Islamic State. The possibility of a ground operation was also discussed in Saudi Arabia.
- On February 21, the head of the US State Department, John Kerry, following negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said that a truce in Syria is now closer than ever. According to him, negotiations between the presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation should take place in the near future.