Interview with HE Mr. Khaled SHARAF
Charge d’affaires a.i., Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic

Vasile SIMILEANU: Excellency,
Since new generations know very little about Syria, please take a trip into Syria’s history! What has the Syrian government of recent years represented in the building of the modern state? What is happening now?

Khaled SHARAF: The period that followed Syria’s inde-pendence was a period characterized by political insta-bility. During the presidency of the late President Hafez al-Assad which started in the beginning of the 70s, Syria witnessed a period of political stability, and the building of a new State based on institutions and a multi-political party system.

After the election of President Bashar al-Assad in 2000, Syria witnessed a new phase characterized by moder-nization and economic and political openness, especially towards the west. Economic laws were enacted that encouraged the private sector, investment, and project establishment. Many private universities, international schools, and banks were opened. Syria became an im-portant touristic center.

Unfortunately, after 2011, things changed and those efforts and steps were stopped and obstructed due to Western interference in Syrian internal affairs, and the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States of America and the European Union on Syria.

Currently, the Syrian state is trying hard to balance its efforts in its war on what remains of terrorist factions, rebuild what that terrorism destroyed, and overcome the effects of the inhumane unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria that severely affect the lives of the Syrian citizens.

I would like to reaffirm that most of the Syrian lands are currently safe and under the control of the Syrian state, and we are working hard to recover the rest of the lands from under the control of terrorists and end the American and Turkish occupation in northern Syria.

V.S.: Mr. Sharaf,
Syria ”abandoned” the Western way? Why? I ask this question in the context of your special relationship with the Russian Federation and Iran.

Khaled SHARAF: No. On the contrary, Syria is still seeking good relations with all countries based on mutual respect, respect for national sovereignty, and non-interference in internal affairs. Syria desired and still desires to build the best relations with all countries of the world, but some countries in the West and the region led by the United States are trying to impose their conditions and interests on the Syrian state and interfere in Syrian internal affairs.

On the other hand, we enjoy good relations based on cooperation and mutual respect with countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, and many others friendly countries. Therefore, we requested their assistance diplomatically and economically.

Syria believes in a multipolar world. I would like here to recall that Syria was among the first 51 founding member states of the United Nations in 1945, and this confirms that we believe in and support balanced relations among the countries of the world.

V.S.: ”The Arab Spring” has not affected Syria. Why?

Khaled SHARAF: First of all, I would like to ask what the so-called Arab Spring really is? Is it the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt? Or is it the chaos in Libya? Is it Condoleezza Rice’s doctrine of creative chaos? Can we find one country that has succeeded in this so-called “spring”? And if you look closely, you will find that it has only succeeded in spreading chaos.

The so-called Arab Spring phenomenon is not a local phenomenon that originated from our region. Therefore, the so-called Arab Spring was not successful in Syria, because Syria is a state with institutions, where the president is democratically elected by the people and enjoys great popularity, and with time passing, the Syrian people realized the real motives behind this so-called “Arab Spring”.

One of the most important proofs of countries’ involvement and support for terrorism in Syria is the confession of Mr. Hamad bin Jassim, the former prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar to a Qatari TV station in March 2022. Bin Jassim said that the Jordanian and Turkish military operations command spent $2 trillion to oust the Syrian President. In addition, an investigation into ISIS resources revealed that Qatar bought 32,000 Toyota SUVs and handed them over to ISIS in 2012.

V.S.: The emergence of DAESH has had unforeseen consequences for the Syrian state. Who are the members of this terrorist organisation, how has this movement evolved on Syrian territory and what are the social and economic consequences? How do you perceive the dismantling of DAESH? Who should be involved in stopping the terrorist attacks and dismantling it?

Khaled SHARAF: ISIS is a foreign creation of our region. Islam in Syria is a moderate Sufi Islam that renounces violence and extremism. Historically, there has not been an environment that incubates extremism in our region, and this confirms that it is alien to it.

The intelligence services of Western countries have been gathering extremists from all around the world and helping to send them to Syria to overthrow the Syrian government in order to install a regime that is allied with them, just as they did in Afghanistan in the 1980s to limit and stop the Soviet invasion of that country. How would you explain the arrival of hundreds of thousands of ISIS fighters to Syria from over 100 countries? How did they travel and take flights without being noticed by the secret services of these countries or their immigration departments?

Today, there are nearly 60,000 Syrian ISIS members and their families in al-Hawl camp in eastern northern Syria. Their home countries refuse to take them back because if they do and prosecute them, their employers and those who brought them to Syria and supported them will be revealed.

As I mentioned before, ISIS is the new product of some intelligence services. In order to dismantle and end ISIS, we need to work on several axes, in addition to the military one. Some countries need to stop supporting it. We also need to fight the spread of this extremist ideology, especially in cyberspace, and support the moderate and peaceful version of Islam.

It is also necessary to work and cooperate with the countries affected by ISIS terrorism and support them to fight against it instead of besieging them. Weakening these countries creates an environment for ISIS and its ideas to spread.

V.S.: Syria has recently gone through a traumatic experience due to the effects of the earthquake in Turkey. How has Syria been affected? How many victims are there and how many people have been left homeless? How has the international community stepped in to help those in the particular situation of losing everything? What steps has the Syrian administration taken to secure the living quarters?

Khaled SHARAF: As for the earthquake that occurred on the 6th of February and struck both Turkey and Syria, as you know it was very strong (7.8 on the Richter scale). It was one of the biggest disasters that occurred in the region recently, claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people in the two countries, in addition to thousands of injured and homeless people.

In Syria, the government met on the morning of the earthquake and declared three provinces as disaster areas, formed a high committee for relief and issued an appeal for assistance that included the basic needs for relief. The situation was very difficult. Syria, which has been living under illegal sanctions for many years, lacks the most basic needs such as the necessary medical equipment, machinery, tents, cranes, bulldozers, ambulances, and spare parts… In addition to the severe shortage of fuel, which resulted in an almost complete power outage… As you have seen on television, the rescue operations in Syria were done with bare hands, picks and shovels. What made the matter even more difficult is the politicization of the humanitarian issue. For instance, most countries did not or have been slow to provide aid to Syria under the pretext of sanctions.

Here, for example, in Romania, rescue teams went to Turkey from the first day of the earthquake, while no European rescue teams went to Syria. As you know, the two or three days after an earthquake are essential for saving lives. I read in one of the statistics that Turkey managed to save more than 50% of the earthquake victims, while Syria could not save more than 20%.

Here in Romania, I personally met some officials of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who expressed their full solidarity with the disaster. I provided them with a list of the materials that we urgently need. A week later, the Romanian government thankfully sent two planes with rescue, food, and medical equipment. The planes unloaded their cargos in Lebanon and Turkey.

On the other hand, European banks did not allow us to open bank accounts to collect donations for earthquake victims under the pretext of sanctions on the Syrian banking system, although the issue is purely humanitarian and needed urgent assistance. I will never forget the great solidarity and aid that we received from the Romanian people, especially from schoolchildren, churches, ordinary people, and others. Some countries have sent us a lot of medical aid, foodstuffs, clothes, and tents, led by the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

V.S.: In the complex context of the Middle East, what are Syria’s relations with the Arab states? How do you assess relations between the states in the region? What about with the European Union?

Khaled SHARAF: Historically, Syria enjoys good relations with all countries of the world as well as with the Arab countries. Syria is one of the founders of the Arab League, and it bears an Arab nationalist thought that believes in Arab unity and joint Arab action, and it did not abandon this thought even during the most difficult circumstances it went through.

Our relations with the Arab countries are balanced and based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs. Unfortunately, some Arab countries, at the beginning of the Syrian crisis, took hostile positions and approaches towards Syria with the encouragement of the United States. Some of them participated in financing, training, arming, and sending terrorists to Syria, but they soon realized that their positions were incorrect and based on false assumptions. At this very moment, we are witnessing the improvement and normalization of relations between Syria and some of the Arab countries, especially the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. In addition to that, we are witnessing Arab efforts to bring Syria back to the Arab League. During the last week, decisions were taken to reopen the Tunisian embassy in Damascus and nomine a Tunisian Ambassador to Syria. Saudi Arabia announced the resuming of its consular services in Damascus.

As for relations with the countries of the European Union, Syria enjoys good bilateral relations with many European countries, and Romania is an example of that. However, the positions of some European countries are subordinate to the American position, or are committed to the common position of the European Union. Syria hopes that the European position would be independent of the American one, and that European countries would see what is happening in Syria from their independent perspective, because then they will discover the truth about what is happening in Syria. Never-theless, the positions of some European countries differ from those of the European Union, and they did not take hostile stances towards Syria at the bilateral level.

Here, I would like to point out that Syria also enjoys good relations with all European peoples, whose stances are non-politicized and humane and differ from those of their governments. The biggest evidence of this was the great sympathy that we received from the European peoples, and the donations that reached Syria from those peoples for those affected by the earthquake in Syria.

V.S.: Excellency,
Please comment on Syrian-Romanian bilateral relations. What is the current state of play? I am asking you this question because many Syrians have studied in Romania and many of them have started mixed families. Are they still a link for the development of bilateral relations? How do you perceive them?

Khaled SHARAF: Syria and Romania have historical relations in all fields. The diplomatic relations are dated to 1955, and there was an exchange of official visits at the highest levels between the two countries. Romania contributed strongly to the industrial and agricultural renaissance in Syria in the seventies and eighties of the last century. For instance, Romania contributed to building oil refineries, cement factories, tractor factories, electric power towers, phosphate extraction, etc.

Romania also received thousands of Syrian students who studied and graduated from its universities in all majors, and they had an active role in Syria’s scientific and technical renaissance. Many students who remained in Romania after their graduation had an important role in the formation of the Syrian community in Romania. Some of them are very successful doctors, dentists, engineers, and businesspeople. There is also an active Romanian community in Syria.

Syria was one of Romania’s most important political and economic partners in the Middle East, but these relations declined significantly after Romania’s accession to the European Union, as it became necessary for Romania to harmonize all bilateral agreements with European laws and with Romania’s new political and economic situation… Despite this, Romania sought constantly to restore momentum to its old relations in the region, including of course with Syria, and there were two visits at the highest political levels between the two countries, where President Traian Basescu visited Syria, and President Bashar Al-Assad visited Romania in 2009, and during this visit dozens of agreements were signed in the economic, financial, cultural, and judicial fields.

However, the momentum of relations slowed down a lot after the crisis in Syria. It should be noted that Romania had a position that expressed an understanding for what is going on in Syria and an independent opinion, as it maintained the diplomatic relationship with Syria and the work of the two embassies in Damascus and Bucharest. Romania has always had a moderate and logical political opinion regarding the ongoing conflict, and it was constantly demanding to find a political solution. Time has proven the correctness of the Romanian position and orientation.

V.S.: How do you perceive the regional geopolitical pressures, in the context of the turmoil in Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian dissensions, the pressure of the conflict in Iraq, the Turkish strategies regarding the territories in Northern Syria and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict?

Khaled SHARAF: Syria has lands occupied by Israel since 1967 and wants to regain them completely, and it desires peace. Therefore, Syria was part of the peace process in the region and participated in the Madrid Conference in 1991, but Israel’s lack of desire for peace and the return of occupied lands is what thwarted that process. Syria is also part of the 2002 Arab initiative for peace with Israel (land for peace), and once again, Israel thwarted it.

Lebanon also still has lands occupied by Israel, and with regard to the relationship between Syria and Lebanon, what affects Lebanon certainly affects Syria. The economic crisis that Lebanon is currently suffering from has a great impact on Syria, so Syria has great interest in Lebanon’s stability.

With regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is a question of occupation and a regime of apartheid imposed by Israel over the Palestinians. Syria supports the Palestinian cause and its position is consistent and unchanged towards it.

With Iraq, we have good relations and we also support its stability. Both countries suffer from ISIS terrorism and we support each other in fighting this terrorism. The amounts of donations and aid that arrived from Iraq to those affected by the earthquake in Syria confirm the strong relationship with this brotherly country at the people and official level.

We used to have very good relations with Turkey until its interference in Syria in the beginning of the crisis and its support for the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Currently, Turkey occupies part of the Syrian lands, and supports some armed factions in the areas it occupies and in the Idlib province.

On the war in Ukraine, Syria stands by the Russian Federation, based on its conviction that the Russian position is correct and that confronting international expansionism is Russia’s right. Some state actors, through their geopolitical and geostrategic pressures in certain areas of strategic interest, bear responsibility for the chaos and bloodshed through their support for ultranationalist movements in Ukraine, their desire to threaten Russia’s security by extending NATO to its borders and arming and financing the war. In addition, some states thwart all attempts to reach an agreement, the latest being the Chinese initiative.

V.S.: Who are Syria’s strategic partners at this stage? What strategies will Damascus pursue to rebuild the Syrian state? Which factions are involved in the political, religious and military infighting? Can we speak of a national reconciliation? When and on what principles?

Khaled SHARAF: At the beginning of the crisis, the act of terrorism by the extremist factions, especially Jabhat al-Nusra, Jaish Al-Islam, ISIS, and many other armed factions pushed civilians to flee inside and outside the country. Some European countries facilitated this migration and attracted the most important Syrian minds and expertise free of charge, while Syria today lacks and needs such expertise.

Later, due to the economic blockade and unilateral coercive measures, Syrians lacked the minimum of the necessities of livelihood, which also caused new waves of mi-gration. We believe that if the Europeans want to stop illegal migration, they must immediately lift the unilateral coercive measures and help Syrians to live in dignity.

V.S.: Who are Syria’s strategic partners at this stage? What strategies will Damascus pursue to rebuild the Syrian state? Which factions are involved in the political, religious and military infighting? Can we speak of a national reconciliation? When and on what principles?

Khaled SHARAF: Syria enjoys good relations with the Russian Federation, Iran, China and many other countries. With regard to the Syrian strategy for reconstruction, Syria calls on all friendly countries that did not support terrorism in our country to participate in the reconstruction. The Syrian government provides all facilities for that. Many laws have been enacted to encourage and facilitate investment. Annually, Syria holds exhibitions to invite companies and those interested to participate in the reconstruction process. This year, the Syrian Reconstruction Exhibition will be held in June.

However, the blockade and unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria, and the pressures and threats exerted by America and the European Union on every external party that plans to participate in the reconstruction or rehabilitation of infrastructure, basic services, power stations, and roads hinder and delay the reconstruction process and exacerbate the dire humanitarian conditions.

In the last decade, Syria witnessed a political openness, as many new political parties emerged, some of which took oppositional orientations to the Syrian government, and they now have representation in the Syrian parliament.

Syria adopted a national plan for conducting reconciliations, whereby a specialized ministry was established, which later turned into a commission for national recon-ciliation. The commission carried out many national reconciliations. President Al-Assad has also issued many amnesty decrees. Syria took many measures and held many international conferences to help the return of refugees and IDP. However, some actors – states and transnational corporations – obstruct these efforts because they want to use them as a pressure card on the Syrian government.

V.S.: What are Syria’s economic problems at the moment? In order to get a better perception, please elaborate on the level of social cohesion and which political groups are involved in achieving it?

Khaled SHARAF: Today, Syria is suffering from a severe economic blockade and very harsh unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria, which led to a significant decline in the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the dollar and the euro, causing difficulties in securing and importing food, fuel, medicine, and other basic material.

There is a significant decrease in the purchasing power of the Syrian citizens, and they are struggling to secure the most basic necessities of life. The negative effects of the catastrophic earthquake came to add to the Syrian people suffering.

You mentioned in your question the term ‘civil war’. Actually, what we witnessed in Syria is not a civil war. It is rather a terrorist war in which thousands of foreign terrorists have been used. We have terrorist fighters from all over the world. We even have entire ethnic factions. For instance, we have Chinese Uighur’s faction, Chechenia’s faction, and Turkmen’s faction. If it was a civil war, people from certain religious affiliations wouldn’t take refuge in other cities where people belong to different religious affiliations.

Thank you…

Vasile SIMILEANU: Excellency,
Thank you for granting this interview and we wish you the best of luck in achieving your objectives in Romania!