President al-Assad: intellectual war one of gravest aspects of aggression against Syria

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President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday the intellectual war and attempts to abolish or replace identity are one of the gravest aspects of the colonial aggression targeting Syria.

President al-Assad was speaking during a meeting with the teaching staff and post-graduate students at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Damascus.

The Arab region is originally based on an ideology of correlation between Arabism and Islam, the President said, "which makes adherence to this principle one of the most important factors for restoring intellectual and social security to Arab societies."

The West has sought to abolish this ideology so as to dominate the region and the role of Arab countries. Having failed to do so, the President said, the West turned to play on concepts to alter the essence of the ideology. President al-Assad said the intellectuals and academics have a role to look into concepts and furnish them with clear-cut meanings to confront attempts to market different meanings that seek to empty ideologies of their content," which risks a loss of belonging and deviation from principles causes for which we have been struggling for decades."

Syria is targeted, not only for its weighty geopolitical position, but also for its pivotal role in the region and the sway it has on the Arab street, the President said.

He indicated that the war against Syria is an attempt to control its sovereign decision and have it weakened to reverse its policies that meet the aspirations of the Syrian people and are out of pace with the US and Western interests in the region which, the President said, explains the emergence of the Israeli factor that has a major role in backing terrorist groups.

President al-Assad said the crisis in Syria is passing through a turning point on the military side due to the continuous achievements of the army and armed forces in the war against terrorism, and on the social front in terms of national reconciliations and a growing popular awareness of the aggression's goals.

The Syrian state seeks to restore security and stability to the main areas rocked by terrorism before turning to strike pockets and dormant cells.

There had been dialogue during the meeting about the importance of universities, as well as scientific and strategic studies' research centers in providing the state with qualified cadres.