Syria will not accept any violation of sovereignty, says foreign minister

Syria will not accept any violation of its sovereignty and identity, Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani insisted on Tuesday as he noted the ongoing government efforts to lift the sanctions imposed on the country during the rule of ousted President Bashar Al-Assad. Al-Shaibani made his comment during a speech at the National Dialogue Conference in the People’s Palace in Damascus.

“Syria has faced exceptional circumstances over the past decade and more that were not limited to a systematic war waged by the regime,” said the minister. “However, despite the challenges and after the liberation, we did not surrender to pressures. We are working on openness and effective diplomacy.”

According to the official Syrian news agency SANA, Al-Shaibani touched on the diplomatic activity of the Syrian government in the period following the fall of Assad. “Syria has attended important international conferences, and this is an important step towards restoring its role in the international political arena. We will not accept any violation of our sovereignty or identity, and we will remain keen to build relations with those who stood by while remaining open to those who respect the will of our people.”

The conference began on Tuesday, attended by nearly 600 people. The opening speech was given by interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

“Syria has gone through many challenges and transformations over a century, from the colonial era to political disorder, passing through the United Arab Republic, then a Baath Party, to the rule of the two Assads,” Al-Sharaa reminded the audience. “During that era, Syria has endured pain and suffering — social, economic, political, psychological, moral and other kinds. It has been devoured by hyenas who have shed its blood, then came the blessed Syrian revolution, then the clear victory and the great conquest.”

Now, he added, Syria has been returned to its people. “So, preserve your trust and fulfill your duty. The greatest treatment for Syria today is to feel its pain and its suffering.”

He warned that there are some who seek to undermine the achievements of the Syrian people. “However, we must confront firmly anyone who tampers with our security and unity… and turn Syria’s disasters into investment opportunities.”

Pointing to the need for armed groups to give up their weapons, Al-Sharaa stressed that “Syria is indivisible, an integrated whole. The unity and monopoly of arms in the hand of the state is not a luxury, but a duty and an obligation.”

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