Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, SANA- President Bashar al-Assad received on Saturday representatives of humanitarian, social and development associations and institutions participating in the International Ecclesiastical Conference held recently in Syria.
During his dialogue with the participants, President al-Assad stressed that the ideological aspect is very important but the aspect related to the livelihood side is parallel in importance.
This ecclesiastical and social initiative of the conference conveyed several messages, mainly that the role of religious and social associations and institutions in Syria is not limited only to the religious aspect, but also had played a social and developmental role as they provided aid and contributions without discrimination, President al-Assad went on to say.
President al-Assad pointed out that the citizen of Christian faith in Syria has never been a “guest”, nor a “passenger” citizen, but a true partner in work and production.
President al-Assad also considered that the essence of development works is to maintain social balance, stressing the importance of dialogue and collective thinking that was provided by the conference, as well as setting the mechanism to follow up on all ideas and proposals that had been discussed on the ground in a way that will have a positive impact on Syria.
President al-Assad underlined that the displacement of Christians is a main goal for the external schemes for the region, but it is mainly an Israeli goal, since when the countries of the region are divided into different sectarian states, each with a single color, then Israel will become part of the natural tissue, therefore, maintaining the texture of the region and its diverse identity are a need that we should defend.
Manar Salameh/ Hala Zain
