New Delhi: Syria is facing international criticism for brutal crackdown on pro democracy protests, but Syrian Foreign Minister Feysel Mekdad in an exclusive interview to NDTV's Maya Mirchandani has said that the government is dealing with violent protests and casualty figures are exaggerated by the media.
Here's an excerpt of the interview:
NDTV: The question that is being asked of your government right now is how is it justifying these crackdowns that have killed so many people?
Feysel Mekdad: We don't need to justify a so-called crackdown because these violent actions you are speaking about were committed by extremist terrorist groups against the government. It is the opposite. The government is a victim of these atrocities committed by extremist groups. We are dealing with armed groups. We are not dealing with peaceful demonstrators. The international media is attacking Syria. Nowadays, is falsifying facts and misinforming the public opinion.
NDTV: My two follow-up questions to that. One is, since the so-called Arab Spring that one has seen across the middle-east and the region, when the protests began in Syria in the middle of March, since then about 1600 people have died. Are you saying that none of these people were actually peaceful pro-democracy protesters?
Feysel Mekdad: In fact, this figure is being exaggerated mainly by the Arab media because the mainstream Arab media is misinformed in their public opinion, is in the hands of western circles, directed by them for their own interests so this media is not dependable media, and the opposite is the reality. It is the government which has... Then I'll not speak or use their terms. I mean Arab spring or Arab Autumn and so on and so forth. So it is for their media to describe...
NDTV: So are you saying that none of them are actually people who are seeking some sort of a democratic government change in Syria?
Feysel Mekdad: We have to clarify this. Who told you that we are against peaceful demonstrations in Syria? I mean, the President has issued for the first time in the history of Syria a law allowing the peaceful demonstrations as an issue of human rights. But in Syria what happened is the opposite. They claim they are peaceful demonstrators but when they arrive at a certain point of these demonstrations then the real organizers, I mean, the terrorist groups and extremists groups come out, kill policemen, ask people to close their shops by force. Those who do not listen to them are threatened to be killed or of burning their shops. But, unfortunately the media which depends on so called eyewitnesses in Syria report the way they like, misinform deliberately the viewers. These news are taken seriously and being paid for by the major mainstream media.
NDTV: But international media is not being allowed into Syria right now as well. So, on the one hand when you're saying the media is distorting the facts or playing into quote-unquote western agenda, then why don't you allow journalists in?
Feysel Mekdad: Frankly speaking we don't have confidence in all this kind of media. We welcome Indian media and by the way we allowed the international media to come to Damascus. But when you as a journalist want to enter into Syria, when these people are rampaging the country and killing innocent people, then meet other journalists as well and then accuse the government of endangering their lives.
NDTV: So you're saying it is for the safety of the journalists that you're not letting...
Feysel Mekdad: Absolutely. Absolutely this is the only reason.
Here's an excerpt of the interview:
NDTV: The question that is being asked of your government right now is how is it justifying these crackdowns that have killed so many people?
Feysel Mekdad: We don't need to justify a so-called crackdown because these violent actions you are speaking about were committed by extremist terrorist groups against the government. It is the opposite. The government is a victim of these atrocities committed by extremist groups. We are dealing with armed groups. We are not dealing with peaceful demonstrators. The international media is attacking Syria. Nowadays, is falsifying facts and misinforming the public opinion.
NDTV: My two follow-up questions to that. One is, since the so-called Arab Spring that one has seen across the middle-east and the region, when the protests began in Syria in the middle of March, since then about 1600 people have died. Are you saying that none of these people were actually peaceful pro-democracy protesters?
Feysel Mekdad: In fact, this figure is being exaggerated mainly by the Arab media because the mainstream Arab media is misinformed in their public opinion, is in the hands of western circles, directed by them for their own interests so this media is not dependable media, and the opposite is the reality. It is the government which has... Then I'll not speak or use their terms. I mean Arab spring or Arab Autumn and so on and so forth. So it is for their media to describe...
NDTV: So are you saying that none of them are actually people who are seeking some sort of a democratic government change in Syria?
Feysel Mekdad: We have to clarify this. Who told you that we are against peaceful demonstrations in Syria? I mean, the President has issued for the first time in the history of Syria a law allowing the peaceful demonstrations as an issue of human rights. But in Syria what happened is the opposite. They claim they are peaceful demonstrators but when they arrive at a certain point of these demonstrations then the real organizers, I mean, the terrorist groups and extremists groups come out, kill policemen, ask people to close their shops by force. Those who do not listen to them are threatened to be killed or of burning their shops. But, unfortunately the media which depends on so called eyewitnesses in Syria report the way they like, misinform deliberately the viewers. These news are taken seriously and being paid for by the major mainstream media.
NDTV: But international media is not being allowed into Syria right now as well. So, on the one hand when you're saying the media is distorting the facts or playing into quote-unquote western agenda, then why don't you allow journalists in?
Feysel Mekdad: Frankly speaking we don't have confidence in all this kind of media. We welcome Indian media and by the way we allowed the international media to come to Damascus. But when you as a journalist want to enter into Syria, when these people are rampaging the country and killing innocent people, then meet other journalists as well and then accuse the government of endangering their lives.
NDTV: So you're saying it is for the safety of the journalists that you're not letting...
Feysel Mekdad: Absolutely. Absolutely this is the only reason.
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