Syrian President Bashar Assad indicated that "the war could have been avoided if we had complied with all the demands imposed on Syria regarding various issues, primarily abandoning Syrian rights." He added, "Even if we assumed that we would comply, it would mean we avoid war but would pay a much greater price later." In a special interview with Sky News Arabia, he stated that resigning from power was never an option because it would be seen as fleeing due to the war.
Assad continued, "When they spoke about the necessity of the Syrian president's departure, the narrative was that the problem was a personal one, meaning that this person could not be more important than the homeland. Regardless of his characteristics, he must leave... A president departs when the people want him to, not due to external pressure or foreign war. If it is due to internal reasons, that is something normal, while if it is due to a foreign war, it is called fleeing, not relinquishing power, and fleeing was not on the table at all."
Regarding the demonstrations calling for his resignation, the Syrian president remarked: "Even the large number in those demonstrations did not exceed, at best, a hundred thousand or so in all provinces, compared to tens of millions of Syrians. First, secondly, let’s assume there is a large number, and that the richest and strongest countries in the world stand against this president, while a large part of the people stand against him. How can he remain? There is no logic in the matter... Therefore, he remains because the larger number of the people supports the issues that the president supports." He noted the support of Syria's friends.
When asked about his expectations from the Arab world, Assad said, "I cannot predict, I can hope," adding, "It is illogical and unrealistic to expect that this return and these relations that have begun to appear closer to normal will lead to economic results within months; this is illogical."
Regarding a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Assad stated that he would not "meet with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan on his terms," pointing out that "Erdogan's goal in sitting with me is to legitimize the Turkish occupation in Syria." He affirmed, "Our goal is to withdraw from Syrian territories, while Erdogan's goal is to legitimize the Turkish occupation in Syria; therefore, a meeting cannot occur under Erdogan's terms." He further asked, "Why would Erdogan and I meet?! To drink refreshments, for example?"
On Lebanon, Assad confirmed that Damascus had not intervened to resolve the crisis in Lebanon and does not support any presidential candidates. He noted that the Caesar Law is undoubtedly an obstacle, but we have managed to overcome this law in several ways; it is not the biggest obstacle... rather it is the destruction of infrastructure and the image of war that prevents any investor from coming to deal with the Syrian market. He added that in the past years, less than half a million refugees have returned to Syria, and none of them have been imprisoned, but this return has stopped due to the current living conditions. As for the captagon trade, Assad believed that the responsibility for drug trafficking lies with the countries that contributed to creating chaos in Syria, not the Syrian state.
Exclusive interview with President Bashar Assad.
