Al-Shara grants comprehensive interview to Turkish TV outlining developments

Just a few days prior to his visit to Ankara to convey a message from President Bashar Al-Assad to the Turkish President, Ahmed Nacdet Cezar, Foreign Minister, Farouk Al-Shara said that the Syrian - Turkish relations are persistently moving forward.

In an interview with the Turkish TV, Channel 7, Al-Shara said that there is dire need for establishing cooperation among the region's countries to prevent a war against Iraq or against any other country.

Regarding the US preparations for a possible strike against Iraq, al-Shara affirmed that Syria rejects the US attack on Iraq regardless of its intentions and goals. "For us there is no difference between America's willingness to change the regime in Iraq or her attempts to control the Iraqi oil resources, because the responsibility of regime changing in any country is the responsibility of that country's own people," Shara said.

The foreign minister indicated that every country has to protect its territorial integrity as well as the regional peace.

Responding to a question on Syria's stand regarding the possibility of the regional map change, al-Shara said that Syria stands with the side of protecting the Iraqi territorial integrity in the same way as she had always been underlining the necessity of the Turkish land's unity.

With regard to his agenda topics during his forthcoming visit to Turkey, al-Shara mentioned that issues which had been discussed during the Turkish Prime Minister, Abdullah Gul's visit to Syria would be followed up.

Al-Shara pointed out that the Syrian-Turkish relations in the fields of economy and tourism would be further developed along with joint investment projects.

The foreign minister concluded by saying that the Syrian-Turkish relations would set an example for the regional countries and that the Syrian-Turkish borders would be a source of amity and friendship.