From Russia for example, we have political support, which is different from the cooperation. We have cooperation for 60 years now, but now we have political support.

Despite the ethnic diversity within each nation, the social fabric of the region by and large is one.

You cannot have partition only on political bases or geographic bases. It should be social first of all when the communities do not live with each other.

Syria is geographically and politically in the middle of the Middle East.

I always say the Syrian problem as isolated case, as Syrian case, is not very complicated. What makes it complicated is the interference from the outside, especially the Western interference because it's against the will of the Syrian government, while the intervention of the Russians, Iranians, and Hezbollah is because of the invitation of the Syrian government.

Peace in Syria is not only our priority; it's a Middle Eastern priority, and when the Middle East is stable, the rest of the world is stable, because the Middle East is the heart of the world geographically and geopolitically, and Syria is the heart of the Middle East geographically and geopolitically.

You cannot reform your society or institution without opening your mind. So the core issue is how to open the mind, the whole society, and this means everybody in society including everyone. I am not talking about the state or average or common people. I am talking about everybody; because when you close your mind as an official you cannot upgrade and vice versa.