Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-24-Speech-4-169"
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"en.20070524.25.4-169"2
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".
Mr President, Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the world, and present-day Syria is an ancient cultural area in which several peoples and religions have coexisted – peacefully, for the most part – for centuries, and where close cooperation between Muslims and Christians still exists. Mr Dess and I are particularly involved with the dialogue between these religions, which certainly has a good chance of success in that country – being an Arab country that is not Islamist and is very important throughout the region. All the more regrettable, then, that a regime has established itself there that, under Ba’athist national socialism, is victimising, persecuting and repressing people, subjecting them to show trials and taking political prisoners – and this at a time when our need for Syria’s help in achieving peace in the region is more pressing than ever.
I am not one of those who believe in the complete isolation of Syria. The country has an ancient tradition; one that should be harnessed to build peace. Without Syria there can be no peace in the Middle East, no peace in Lebanon and no resolution of the Iraq problem. For this very reason, however, we cannot accept violations of human rights, such as the repression of Kurds and others on the flimsiest grounds, and so we would appeal to Syria to return to a policy of dialogue and cooperation. We are prepared to engage in this, but not with a regime that lacks the fundamental will to respect democracy and the rule of law. It is impossible to conduct a reasonable foreign and security policy and reasonable economic relations with a country that shows contempt for fundamental human rights. This should be a clear signal to Syria, therefore, to change its course and return to the path of cooperation."@en1
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