Here is the translation of the speech delivered by astronaut Major General Mohamed Fares during the Istanbul events marking the tenth anniversary of the blessed Syrian Revolution
Istanbul, Turkey In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, Peace be upon you, and God’s mercy and blessings: To our free, rebellious, and steadfast Syrian people, From Daraa in the south to Qamishli in the north, and from the Syrian coast in the west to Deir ez-Zor in the east, We stand here now in exile, having endured ten lean years that astonished the world with our patience, determination, and persistence in achieving our shared goal: the removal of the tyrannical Assad regime, a crucial phase in building our beloved, free, and democratic Syria. Ten years of the Jasmine Revolution saw our people endure a devastating war waged by their criminal regime, built on hateful sectarianism for decades! A regime that killed people, destroyed flora and fauna, and displaced our people from their land and homes, with nearly a million martyrs! Not to mention the displaced and refugees, more than ten million scattered around the world and in displacement camps. Let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of detainees, prisoners, and those forcibly disappeared in the regime’s and sectarian militias’ prisons. Despite all this, our people remain committed to their right to freedom and dignity, and to building their civil state and democratic governance that ensures equality and justice for all citizens without any religious, ethnic, or regional discrimination. As Syrians, on the tenth anniversary of our great revolution, we appeal to the free world to enable our people to bring Bashar al-Assad and all those whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent Syrians to justice, to receive their fair punishment for their war crimes and genocide in Syria. We also call on the entire world to pressure Iran and Russia and their allies to implement the United Nations resolutions related to the Syrian issue. To enforce the resolutions of the Geneva Conferences 2118 and 2254, which all call for an end to the war, the formation of a fully empowered transitional governing body, and the complete release of detainees and the disappeared, whose numbers exceed hundreds of thousands in the regime’s prisons, which were exposed by the Caesar documents and led to global condemnation and the enactment of the Caesar Act to punish the criminals, as well as all the names of those killed in the regime’s prisons, whose names remain undisclosed to this day. We tell our people everywhere that the time has come to achieve national unity… unity of political, military, and civil action (our strength lies in our unity), a unity based on a serious and sincere action plan that is the foundation of achieving victory and building a strong state. We urgently request all fighting factions to unite within a free Syrian national army that can withstand and repel aggression, protect the land and property, and contribute to building the future national army of Syria. To our free Syrian people, on the tenth anniversary of the Syrian revolution, we declare that we are one front united under the revolution’s flag, united by its shared goal, and our ceiling is the homeland, and our project is the salvation from the tyrant Assad and his bloody regime. There is no legitimacy for the Assad regime, and there will not be! And that the elections being prepared are null and void, and there is no solution in Syria without his departure and trial. We also reject the re-floatation of the regime and attempts to return it to the Arab League or any form of cooperation with it under any name, such as reconstruction or easing the siege, among others. We appreciate the recent statement by Mr. António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations at the General Assembly headquarters, and we call on the Security Council to coordinate directly with the spectra of the Syrian opposition to enter into serious political negotiations to facilitate the political transition of power in Syria, away from the interests of the states (especially America, Russia, and their allies in the region). We mourn and salute the martyrs of our revolution across the homeland, pray for the healing of the wounded and injured, freedom for the detainees, and more effort to support the resilience of our people in the camps. Long live our great Syrian people, and long may our revolution continue until victory is achieved.
