Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that his country is ready to establish normal relations with Israel “When we regain our land,” referring to the Golan Heights, which has been occupied since June 5, 1967.
Al-Assad’s statements came, in response to a question by the official Russian “Sputnik” news network, about the possibilities for Syria to normalize its relations with Israel, similar to what some Arab countries have done recently, as well as the UAE and Bahrain.
"Our position is very clear since the beginning of the peace talks in the 1990s, that is, nearly three decades ago, when we said that peace for Syria is about rights. Our right is our land,” he said.
He added that "We can establish normal relations with Israel only when we regain our land," considering that "the matter is very simple… Therefore, it is possible when Israel is ready, but it is not so and it was never ready."
The Syrian president noted that “We have not seen any official in the Israeli regime ready to take one step towards peace. Thus, theoretically yes, but in practice, so far the answer is no.”
Al-Assad stressed that there are “no negotiations whatsoever (with Israel), none at all” at the present time.
Al-Assad described the presence of American and Turkish forces in his country as an "occupation", pointing out that his priorities are "to eliminate the terrorists... After that, if the Americans and the Turks do not leave, the natural thing that should happen is popular resistance."
On the other hand, Assad said that the agreement between America and the Syrian Kurds regarding oil extraction is “a robbery, and the only way to stop this theft is to liberate the land.”
“If we don't free it, there is no measure that can stop them from doing that because they are thieves, and you cannot stop a thief unless you put him in prison or somehow deter him... They should be expelled from this area,” Al-Assad said.
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