Intellectuals and Civil Figures: President al-Assad’s Speech Dissipated Citizens’ Worries, Affirmed Independence of Syrian Decision-Making

President Bashar al-Assad’s interview with the Syrian TV on Sunday managed to dissipate many of the Syrian citizens’ worries regarding the current events and how they are dealt with, giving clear and decisive answers to questions raised recently about Syria’s political future.

In a statement to SANA, head of the Syrian Kurds National Initiative Omar Osi said that President al-Assad explained in his speech the dimensions and repercussions of the conspiracy and pressure against Syria and its people

Osi noted that President al-Assad pointed out that dealing with the situation in Syrian is going along properly, adding that one of the most important things in the speech was that President al-Assad set a schedule for taking the practical steps related to the carrying out the laws and decrees issued recently.

“President al-Assad’s description of the pressures by the U.S. and colonial western countries against Syria as a battle for Syria’s sovereignty and an attempt to seize its decision-making put things in their true and realistic context,” he added.

Osi also pointed out to what President al-Assad mentioned about the decree for granting citizenship to Kurds registered in the Hasaka foreigners’ registry, saying that President al-Assad’s description of Syrian Kurds as “a basic part of the Syrian fabric” was well-received among Kurds in Syria.

For his part, writer Jawdat Abu Bakr from Idleb said that President al-Assad gave a precise and clear outline of Syria’s future, noting that the speech reflected transparency, objectivity and proximity to the people and their issues, and that it focused on the importance of communication between the leader and the people which had a positive effect on society, inspiring optimism and ease.

Chairman of Idleb branch of the Arab Writers Union Farouk Aslim pointed out that the speech tackled how the state handled the crisis and the steps to achieve political reform, noting that these steps are based on the fact that reform in an internal issue that rejects all forms of foreign interference in Syrian affairs, in addition to showing President al-Assad’s commitment to reform meeting national interests and not emotions or dictations.

In turn, professor at Al-Furat University Adnad Oaid said that the speech reflected strong confidence in Syria despite the instigation of channels and international diplomacy, focusing on the fact that Syria’s strength comes from the strength and unity of its people and their belief in their historic roots.

Writer Zubair Sultan said that the speech “put the reforms train on the right track,” underlining the importance of what President al-Assad said about comprehensive dialogue in dialogue and national dialogue.

For his part, head of the Lattakia Doctors Syndicate Ghassan Fandi said that the speech gave a lot of information and affirmed that Syria is strong and that a country with its history cannot be marginalized, in addition to affirming that Syria will become a role model and that decision-making ultimately belongs to the Syrians.

In turn, Dr. Samer Ahmad said that President al-Assad’s message was strong and clear, setting the features of the current and future stages based on continuing political and economic reforms and stressing the standards of Syrian policy of preserving national and pan-Arab rights and supporting the resistance.

Dean of Homs’s Al-Baath University Law School Saiid Nahili said that the speech underlined many issues regarding reforms, especially the timetable for reforms, affirming that President al-Assad strengthened the Syrians’ hopes for a better future.

For her part, dentist Nahla Issa Hasan said that President al-Assad’s speech was realistic and reassured the Syrian people that Syria is doing fine and that it won’t be affected by external storms, renewing the Syrian people’s confidence in their security and economy.