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News > World

Syria War Is Nearing Its End: Assad Advisor

  • Bouthaina Shaaban, envoy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, speaks during an interview in Beijing, on August 15, 2012.

    Bouthaina Shaaban, envoy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, speaks during an interview in Beijing, on August 15, 2012. | Photo: Reuters

Published 18 August 2017
Opinion

The six-year war has displaced more than 11 million Syrians.

An advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the six-year war in her country is nearly over as foreign states cut backing for the rebels who are against the government. 

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Speaking in an exclusive interview with Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen television news network on Friday, Bouthaina Shaaban said this week's Damascus International Fair and regional participation proved a "U-turn was achieved" in the conflict.

“It does not mean that we have won the war completely. We are just at the beginning of the road towards reconstruction and rebuilding Syria,” Shaaban commented.

With the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, Damascus has liberated regions across the country from the Islamic State group and Western-backed rebels. Now, the Syrian Arab Army is marching eastward towards the Deir al-Zor region near the Iraqi border.

Syria has been fighting different foreign-sponsored militant and terrorist groups since March 2011. Shaaban said the war has reached its "penultimate stage" as foreign powers that backed rebels change their policies.

U.S. President Donald Trump has ended CIA support to rebel groups fighting to topple Assad. Instead, U.S. forces based in northern Syria are helping Kurdish-led militias push Islamic State group militants out of Raqqa city. 

Turkey, a longtime rebel backer, has also shifted its priority away from ousting Assad, seeking to mend ties with Russia and curb Kurdish expansion near its border.

In her interview, Shaaban accused Turkey of saying one thing but doing another, playing with all parties in order to win a major regional role through the destruction of Syria. 

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“The presence of Turkish troops is an attack that we will address in a timely manner,” she said, adding that Damascus rejects Ankara's role in de-escalation zones as Ankara tries to legitimize its presence. 

"Just as we defeated terrorism, we will fight any illegitimate presence on our land, whether it's the United States or Turkey," Shaaban said. "And this is among the challenges we will face at the right time in the right way."

The multi-sided conflict has raged on along several fronts across the country, with the Islamic State group losing ground to various enemies.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, has reported that the Syrian Arab Army and its allies have encircled an Islamic State group pocket around the village of Uqairabat in central Syria. Driving Islamic State group militants out of that pocket would reduce pressure on the only road through government territory to Aleppo.

The Army has also made advances further east in recent days that could cut off more Islamic State group militants.

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