Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Reference to Turkey: Whoever Interferes Is Our Enemy; Kurds Can't Trust America, Only Syrian Army Can Protect Them

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said in a February 17, 2019 speech that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a "small-time employee of the Americans." He added that every inch of Syria will be liberated and that whoever tries to interfere will be treated as an enemy. In addition, Al-Assad called on the Kurds to not trust America to protect them. The speech was uploaded to Syrian Presidency's YouTube channel.

Following are excerpts:

Bashar Al-Assad: Our enemies do not learn their lessons, and maybe it is a good thing, because that way they keep repeating the same mistakes. Evidence shows…

Crowd: With our souls and our blood we will redeem you, oh Bashar. With our souls and our blood we will redeem you, oh Bashar. With our souls and our blood we will redeem you, oh Bashar. With our souls and our blood we will redeem you, oh Bashar.

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Bashar Al-Assad: Despite the theatrics of that Muslim Brotherhood guy Erdoğan, who tries to present himself as the one pulling the strings… Sometimes he is angry, sometimes he gets upset and makes threats, and lately he began to lost his patience, and that is a big problem apparently… The truth is… The truth is that he is nothing but a small-time employee of the Americans. I am not one to exaggerate. No, we are talking about the reality.

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Every inch of Syria will be liberated, and whoever interferes is our enemy. We will treat every occupier as an enemy. This is not a political position, but a patriotic one. This is a patriotic axiom that is not up for debate.

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We say to the [Kurdish] groups that put their trust in the Americans: The Americans will never protect you. The Americans will never embrace you to their heart or to their bosom. The Americans will put you in their pockets as bargaining chips, right next to their dollars. They have already begun this. If you do not prepare yourselves to fight and defend your country, you will be nothing more than slaves of the Ottomans. Only your country can protect you. Only the Syrian Army will defend you.