Assad says refugees fleeing Syria because of ‘terrorism’

Embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russian media Wednesday that Syrians are fleeing to other countries because of terrorism and that “Western propaganda” is pinning the blame on the Syrian government.

“It’s like the West now is crying for the refugees with one eye and aiming at them with a machinegun with the second one, because actually those refugees left Syria because of the terrorism, mainly because of the terrorists and because of the killing, and second because of the results of terrorism,” he said.

“When you have terrorism, and you have the destruction of infrastructure, you won’t have the basic needs of living, so many people leave because of the terrorism and because they want to earn their living somewhere in this world.”

Assad said that dialogue toward a political solution — called for by the international community — needs to continue while his government continues to fight terrorism.

“Let’s say we sit together as Syrian political parties or powers and achieve a consensus regarding something in politics, in economy, in education, in health in everything. How can we implement it if the priority of every single Syrian citizen is to be secure? So, we can achieve consensus, but we cannot implement unless we defeat the terrorism in Syria,” he said.

“As you know, we are at war with terrorism, and this terrorism is supported by foreign powers,” he continued. He called on political forces “whether inside or outside the government” to unite around what Syrians want: “If we ask any Syrian today about what they want, the first thing they would say is: we want security and safety for every person and every family.”

When asked which countries are helping him in the fight against terrorism, Assad said “friendly countries, particularly Russia and Iran.” He also is cooperating with Iraq, which faces the same type of threat, he said.

The U.S.-led coalition is ineffective and has caused the Islamic State group to expand, he added. “The coalition has failed and has no real impact on the ground.”

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