Deputy Prime Minister of Syria Walid al-Muallem stressed that Israel is an essential part of the conspiracy against Syria, noting that the Syrian government is determined to help make the Moscow meeting a success.
Muallem stressed in an interview with the Syrian al-Ikhbariya TV channel, aired Tuesday evening, that Israel seeks, through the US, to prolong the crisis in Syria as much as possible.
He dismissed Israel’s aggression in the southern province of Quneitra, which took place a few days ago, as a “transgression against Syrian sovereignty and a brazen act of aggression against Syrian territory.”
The Israeli aggression, he added, constituted a breach of the UN-monitored Disengagement Accord of 1974, and it is no surprise the UN has admitted observing Israeli drones in the Syrian sky.
“Is Israel stupid to have carried out this act of aggression while it knows that it will pay for it?” questioned Muallem, stressing that Israel is a fundamental part of the conspiracy targeting Syria.
Israel, he clarified, has been using the Nusra Front terrorist organization and other factions in southern Syria, and has directly intervened to protect them from the Syrian Arab Army or the “popular resistance” countering them.
“The priority at this stage of facing the globally-imposed war on Syria is to eliminate Israel’s tools,” said Muallem. “Inasmuch as we make gains on the ground, we will have started our response to the Israeli aggression.”
Muallem noted that there is no popular incubator for terrorists “as it has obviously been proved recently.”
He cited the local reconciliations that were achieved over the past week in southern Ghouta, Damascus, where thousands of people in Douma and neighboring villages in Eastern Ghouta turned to the army to secure a safe exit while fleeing terrorists.
As far as the political track to solve the crisis in Syria is concerned, and particularly with regard to the Moscow-proposed consultative meeting scheduled for later this month, Muallem said “We have directions from President Bashar al-Assad to put every possible effort to make Moscow meeting a success.”
The aim of this meeting, Muallem clarified, is “to come to agree on holding a Syrian-Syrian dialogue, aimed at drafting a vision for Syria’s future,” restating that this aim was always defined in the invitation letter of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“There won’t be, at the Moscow meeting, interference from outside states or siding with one party against another,” said Muallem, adding that there will be a government delegation to meet with opposition figures on “friendly territory”.
Commenting on a number of opposition groups who refused to take part in Moscow, Muallem said “It’s up to them…There are those who are willing to partake in a dialogue on our future, and those who boycott will have no role to play.”
Asked about a proposed Cairo meeting on Syria, Muallem said “We were not consulted about such a meeting, and anything we are not consulted about is worthless to us,” adding that any effort aimed at foiling the Moscow meeting is an effort that seeks to derail the possibility of a political settlement in Syria.
The minister advised Qatar, Saudi Arabia’s Gulf neighbor, to go back to its “normal size if you are after your people’s interest”.
Muallem also proclaimed Turkey, which has similarly committed itself to persistently conspiring against Syria, as the Syrian people’s “main enemy”.
He cited the well-known “doctrinal” relationship between the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party and the terrorist organization of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
He described the relationship as Turkey providing “strategic depth” for ISIS in terms of facilitating and securing the organization’s passage, medical care, shelter, harbor and a market for the latter’s loots of the Syrian oil, cotton and wheat.
Turkey, Muallem said, must take a lesson from Pakistan and the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, as “terrorism will backfire on you” in the same way Al-Qaeda has in Pakistan.
He cited the Turkish Foreign Minister’s admittance to the existence of 500 to 700 terrorist cells inside Turkey today.
