Syrian FM talks to Euro-Arab parliamentary meeting on Middle East developments

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa met on Sunday with the heads and members of a delegation taking part in the 16th conference for European- Arab parliamentary dialogue, held in Damascus on July 11 to 13.

Al-Sharaa spoke about developments in the region, the Middle East peace process and main regional and international issues. He indicated the Syrian Foreign Ministry's interest in the conference's deliberations and statements, especially those pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Middle East peace process. He added that Syria has continuously asserted the importance of the European role in that process, even during the cold war era and upon preparations for convening the Madrid peace conference in 1991.

Al-Sharaa stressed the European role, especially in light of "the grave bottleneck resulting from halting the peace process, due to the Israeli government's anti-peace practices." He noted the deeply-rooted Arab-European dialogue relations "Geography, with its political and economic dimensions, has perpetuated these relations, which linked the peoples of the two regions to bilateral interests, a spiritual legacy and a treasure of knowledge, culture and science," al-Sharaa said, referring to the moral values the Arabs have in dealing with others in accordance to justice and tolerance, on the grounds of which the "sublime message of Islam has been transferred to the whole world."

He stated that the Arab-European dialogue took its official shape following the October war and the sharp increase in oil prices. "The dialogue would not have been launched unless certain European countries adopted objective stances. France was in the foremost along the countries that denounced Israel's aggression of 1967 and suspended all military aid to it," the minister commented.