Syria Transcript: President Assad's Speech "An Unprecedented National Unity"

See the video (Arabic) here.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to meet again in your council to talk to you today about the situation in Syria and address the dear people of Syria.

Syria, the castle, the glorious, the [strong] in its people.

I am talking to you at an exceptional time. It is a test that happened to be repeated due to conspiracies against this country.

God willing, we will manage to overcome [this conspiracy].

Let the Syrian people always hold their heads high.

I am talking to you from the heart, appreciating the people and sad about the events that happened.

My responsibility to be keen on the country’s security remains.

Our enemies [want] to destabilize the situation in Syria, and we acknowledge that, but [we will not let them].

We tell the enemies that they should learn from their failures.

The developments in the region are very important. Syria [might be affected] by the developments, but what happened strengthens Syria.

You remember in my past speeches, I used to talk about the people.

In times of pressure, the people will not [yield].

We believe and hope that these transformations will change the track of the Palestinian cause, to further commit to the rights and [not make] compromises.

We, in Syria, have different characteristics, domestically and on the external level.

On the national level, [we will] stick to national rights and the defense of resisting movements.

There is an unprecedented national unity that was developed in Syria.

After every success, we should work even more to [defend] ourselves against any foreign conspiracy.

If people were to call for reforms, we will work with them. 

They have mixed strife, reforms and daily needs. The people have demands, but strife has been introduced and it is being covered by [calls for reform].

In turn, we did not know what was happening until they started vandalizing [the country].

We are with reforms but we are not with strife. When the Syrian people realized what was happening [in the country], they responded [with their own demonstrations].

They will keep attempting [to destabilize] Syria.

First, they started using the internet to ignite the situation.

Those who want to ignite the situation started [the demonstrations] in the Daraa province.

Daraa is in the heart of loyalty to Syria and all its people. Daraa is the first line of defense against the Israeli enemy, there is no way that its people, who defend the country, could be the provokers. The people of Daraa [are not responsible] for any instability.

The people of Daraa are an example of patriotism, but they were provoked. The provocations were then moved to Latakia city. There were instructions given to [security forces] to not shed the blood of the Syrian people.

The victims are our family. It is important to punish the [perpetrators]. Let us work to end strife and not enhance it.

There is chaos in the country under the cover of demanding reforms. We made these attempts fail [in the past] and we will [not allow them to succeed] today.

We are not comfortable in the current situation, and we will continue to raise awareness.

It is the job of the state to fulfill the demands of the people.

Efforts should be made to [raise] the people’s awareness.

If I did not want to make reforms, I wouldn’t have announced them in 2005.

Now there will be a new People’s Council and a new administration.

We are heading toward another phase.

What I want to say is that reforms are not a trend. Those who oppose [the regimes] are the corruptors. The challenge now is what kind of reforms do we need to implement.

In general, going on without reform destroys the country.

There are other procedures that are still unannounced, they are about enhancing national unity and fighting corruption.

They will be announced by the new cabinet.

About reforms, we want to speed [them] up, but not be [too] hasty.

They are trying to distort us and the Syrian people.

We are humans and we do not like what happened [in the country], however we’re going to take it in a positive way.  We must confront crises. This must push us forward. Ending strife is a national duty. And those who do not work to end strife are supporting it. 

The greater cause is not a government but the country. If [they] impose on us a battle, then we welcome it.

Sons and daughters of the country, you have expressed your will by demonstrating yesterday [to support the regime].

I tell you: God, Syria and the people only.

Transcript Courtesy of Now Lebanon.