Al-Assad meets the mayor of Athens: The world benefited from fruits of our ancient cultures
Syria-Greece, History, 12/17/2003

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife on Tuesday paid a visit to the Athens Municipality and met the Mayor of Athens Lady Dora Backoyannis and members of the Municipal Council.

A large reception ceremony was held at the municipality in honor of the president and his wife. The ceremony was attended by the official delegation accompanying President al-Assad. Following a short meeting, the Mayor of Athens delivered a speech in which she said that Syria is always present in the Greek people's minds and in their historical memory as a friendly country.

She added that "Syria witnessed successive civilizations, and the mutual effects were very fruitful in architecture, music and folklores... In your country, Muslims and Christians live in accord and harmony, where each side recognizes what the other had offered to the Syrian civilization," she said. She went on to say that Syria witnesses a new stage, its leader is a young man and as a doctor, he knows the suffering of humanity. She praised that he is seriously working for developing the administration and incorporating the new technology in Syria.

" We are confident that Syria will actively contribute as a basic stability factor in the Middle East, in order to reach a final solution to this region which has suffered a lot," she concluded.

Later, the mayor accorded President al-Assad the Golden Merit Medal of the City of Athens. President al-Assad, for his part, delivered a cordial speech in which he expressed pleasure to meet Lady Dora and the Greek members of the Municipal Council as they are representatives of the capital of the Hellenic Republic, the cradle of Greek civilization. He thanked them for according him the Golden Merit Medal of the City of Athens stressing that this gesture has a profound effect on him. "From Athens, this ancient Metropolis emerged the most memorable radiation of culture and civilization. In this city emerged philosophers and scientists who spread throughout the world," al-Assad added. He also pointed out that from Athens, the Olympic torch is carried to the cities of the world which host the Olympic games as a symbol of human communication among nations. President Assad went on to say that Damascus is the most ancient inhabited city in the world, in which life continued throughout thousands of years. " Damascus is proud of being the starting point of the preaching of Christianity. The salvation of Saint Paul took place near Damascus, and in a place which has become a well known church he was rescued at the hands of Hanania, the first bishop of Damascus," al-Assad added. He said that Damascus is proud in being the Capital of the Islamic State in the peak of its glory, at the time when features of Greek culture began to interact with Arab Islamic culture, thus giving the best fruits of civilization. " In the framework of the same dialogue, we look forward to communication between the two cities through exchanges of visits and through meetings and agreements," al-Assad said.

He stressed that "we are determined in this visit to give our strong relations an important push forward, particularly in the economic field, since we have strengthened our cooperation in certain fields such as marketing of oil, gas and electricity."

He urged for more cooperation in the field of investment and tourism, especially because our country contains very rich treasures of monuments, beautiful and diverse nature and a people who are open to others.

Previous Stories:
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  Syrian- Greek presidents joint press conference   (12/16/2003)
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