Syrian Truce Helped Stop Bloodshed, Liberate Palmyra - Assad

Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an address to the newly-elected parliament that the ceasefire in the war-torn country helped stop bloodshed and liberate ancient city Palmyra.

"This is the situation in the country amid truce: bloodshed mostly stopped as ceasefire agreements were reached. This helped achieve a number of military victories, including the liberation of Palmyra."

On March 27, Syrian government forces, supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated the city of Palmyra from Daesh terrorist group, 10 months after its capture. The terrorist group has destroyed a significant part of Palmyra's historic ruins, which are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Syrian president said that "our war against terrorism" will continue until terrorism is defeated.

He said that countries supporting terrorism wanted to destroy Syrian constitution, dividing the state according to religious beliefs.

"They wanted to strike the constitution replacing it with a regime based on confessional division. This regime turns citizens of one country into enemies and rivals, which are looking for allies."

Terrorist attacks, including explosions carried out by extremists cannot destroy Syrian unity, Assad said. "Sectarian division in Syria is dead, terrorist attacks are unable to divide Syrians."

According to Assad, some states wanted terrorism to engulf Syria. "According to their political plans, terror should have fully engulfed Syria. After failure, they attempted to undermine the country's [Syria's] constitution and sow chaos in the country."

The Syrian leader called Turkey's regime "fascist" and said that Aleppo is the last President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's hope to "realize the Islamist project."

Assad also commented on Syrian peace talks in Geneva, saying that they truly didn't start as the opposition is backed by third parties.

The Syrian leader thanked Russia, Iran and China for their help in the fight against terrorism, emphasizing that these countries support people's right to determine the fate of their state.

"The defeat of terrorism is imminent as long as there are such states as Iran, Russia and China, supporting the right to self-determination. I thank them for it."

Assad also said that high turnout during the parliamentary elections held in April shows that "the greater pressure on Syria is, the greater is the desire of people to gain independence and sovereignty."

He empazised that any politican process is impossible and senseless until terrorism is defeated.