Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:08The Syrian
00:00:11also, we are in a race Arab Republic and Ukraine signed a high-level cooperation agreement
00:00:15in the field of demining for humanitarian purposes. The agreement
00:00:18was signed on behalf of the Syrian side by the Ministry of Emergency
00:00:22and Disaster Management, and on behalf of the Ukrainian side
00:00:25by the Ministry of Economy
00:00:28and Environment. The agreement
00:00:31remnants? So when we think about aims to benefit from advanced Ukrainian expertise in the field of demining
00:00:35and technical and technological survey of contaminated
00:00:38lands, especially in
00:00:41dozens of meetings at agricultural areas.
00:00:45for openness to
00:00:48Today, we signed an agreement with Ukraine. This agreement
00:00:51is, of course, about demining and unexploded
00:00:55ordnance inside Syria to exchange expertise
00:00:59and benefit from the technology that they use in Ukraine
00:01:02for the process of demining
00:01:04an important partner in this and unexploded ordnance. This agreement, God willing, will be
00:01:09the message and deliver it even to
00:01:09the human element in this a gateway to many agreements between and reduce many risks to the two peoples, between Ukraine and Syria, for several issues
00:01:16munitions that are spread. So awareness and especially in that can be expected or happen between us and
00:01:18the Ukrainian state. God willing, these
00:01:22agreements will be a gateway to get rid of
00:01:26this nightmare, which is the nightmare of mines and unexploded ordnance that
00:01:29is spread almost all over Syrian territories. The Ukrainian experience
00:01:33was a very great experience in this field. Therefore,
00:01:36we, as the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, strove to go
00:01:40towards Ukraine to sign a memorandum of understanding or this agreement, which
00:01:43will be, God willing, the key
00:01:47to getting rid of these munitions and getting rid of these mines
00:01:50and getting rid of them permanently throughout
00:01:53there today teams Syrian territory and using the technology that they are using as the Ukrainian
00:01:58Management to be ready in state for this purpose so that we
00:02:00can use the same technology and have speed
00:02:04in getting rid of these
00:02:05munitions.
00:02:10Regarding pollution in Ukraine, it is a very wide scope
00:02:14and perhaps the biggest problem in the whole world. We have
00:02:17assessed an area of 174
00:02:20thousand square kilometers. It is an area affected
00:02:23by the war and it is an area that we must
00:02:26examine and identify its dangerous
00:02:28the rubble, and work on parts and manage them. But the main problem is not
00:02:32only the size of the problem, but also the intensity of hostilities
00:02:35first, and second, the type
00:02:38of ammunition used, because in the areas that have been
00:02:41liberated or re-controlled,
00:02:44we are dealing with old ammunition, Soviet-Russian
00:02:47ammunition and old Western ammunition.
00:02:50But when we talk about the current battle lines, they are
00:02:55the training of the people modern ammunition such as
00:02:57Five martyrs, I survived FPV drones and some different types. Missiles and different
00:03:01types of modern weapons about which
00:03:04we do not have systematic and real
00:03:07knowledge about how to safely clear and manage
00:03:10them, nor a full assessment of their effects on
00:03:14our lands and soil as a result of this
00:03:16pollution.
00:03:20and war remnants with
00:03:24and war remnants in We expand on this discussion with our guest here in the studio, Professor Ayman Akkad,
00:03:27Director of the Department of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management. Welcome,
00:03:31Professor Ayman. So, we are talking about this
00:03:34Eyes are vigilant on agreement specifically, cooperation between Syria and Ukraine in the field of
00:03:38demining for humanitarian purposes. First, we would like
00:03:41to know why you went to Ukraine specifically in this
00:03:44matter that
00:03:46They are spread across every has a humanitarian dimension in the first
00:03:49place, regarding demining
00:03:53different types of mines? Unfortunately, and this great danger, and why now?
00:03:56giving that knows Also, greetings. Good evening to you and the dear viewers.
00:04:01A very good question, actually. Why Ukraine?
00:04:04Unfortunately, Syria today is
00:04:08number two in the spread
00:04:11of unexploded ordnance and mines.
00:04:14Why number two? Because Ukraine became number
00:04:17one after the war. Hmm.
00:04:20in the Ministry of Defense. This is another The difference is that
00:04:22planted in the soil, in Ukraine is the world's breadbasket, as is well known. It relies on
00:04:26things, they are harder to detect. They agriculture in its economy. As you saw, our partners in this
00:04:29agreement are the Ministry of Economy
00:04:33and Environment. We wonder why the economy. This was
00:04:36a very good question, actually. The economy
00:04:38stage is part of this is the backbone of the Ukrainian economy, it is agriculture.
00:04:41Why Ukraine? Ukraine over
00:04:44German companies to time,
00:04:45the Ministry of Emergency, or even from I mean,
00:04:51the Conference of States Parties to humanitarian organizations working in and the war in Ukraine led the Ukrainian government to work on restoring the role of this
00:04:54be able to say
00:04:55We, unfortunately, economy, which means working on liberating agricultural lands
00:04:58for investment
00:05:00and accelerating the process of technology
00:05:02of casualties is less than development in Ukraine, relying on
00:05:04the previous day, unfortunately, international partners, European
00:05:06partners in investing in this sector. So we found
00:05:10the same philosophy of the ministry, and I believe the philosophy of the
00:05:13Syrian government today, that we should not reinvent the wheel.
00:05:16We start from where others have left off. Our minister
00:05:20always talks about this, and
00:05:23against time, so that we
00:05:26know that Syria today, unfortunately, is a huge
00:05:30minefield, not only mines but also remnants of war, unexploded
00:05:34ordnance. So the race against time means
00:05:37preventing Syrian citizens from reaching
00:05:41dangerous places. So we turned to
00:05:44all countries and international partners working
00:05:48or involved in the file of humanitarian demining
00:05:52for these partnerships. This falls within our
00:05:55vision
00:05:57the world and exchange of expertise. Syria has a lot
00:06:01of expertise due to the years
00:06:04of the revolution. We also offer it to our international
00:06:07partners. There is a lot that we can offer and
00:06:10also a lot that we can bring. These visits, these international
00:06:14partnerships. So Ukraine is
00:06:17sector due to the accumulated experience. Welcome
00:06:20back with us, Professor Ayman, as we talk about demining
00:06:26agricultural areas. How does that help in securing
00:06:29the return of our displaced and refugee people to their homes
00:06:32and areas? You know that one of
00:06:36the reasons for not returning is the presence of mines
00:06:39and war remnants that the fallen Assad regime used to shell with.
00:06:46Yes, the committee of Decree 59 announced by His Excellency
00:06:50the President is entrusted to Mr. Raed Saleh, Minister
00:06:54of Development and Disaster Management. So the responsibility for this
00:06:57vision falls on the steering committee and the executive
00:07:01committee. So we always look at the matter in 360
00:07:04degrees, as they say, so that we see the displaced
00:07:07Syrian citizen, our people living today in tents. When they return to
00:07:11their homes, what are the challenges? What will they need to settle down
00:07:14and live? To return voluntarily first and live
00:07:17with dignity and safety for them and their children. First
00:07:20of all, we certainly need to clear the areas
00:07:24of mines and war remnants. We know the use of cluster munitions, the use of many, many
00:07:27of these munitions. So we have to survey these
00:07:31areas, identify the contaminated areas, and then, for
00:07:34example, bring in heavy equipment after
00:07:37we finish the survey to remove
00:07:40the infrastructure. When we finish everything,
00:07:44consider me one of our displaced people returning to one of
00:07:47the cities in northern Syria, for example. I have a house,
00:07:51I have a clinic for children, God forbid, if I need
00:07:54a school or transportation. But my livelihood.
00:07:58We know that rural areas mostly depend on agriculture,
00:08:02inherited from generation to generation. So how will you return if you are not
00:08:05confident that your next step is safe?
00:08:08So we focused our efforts on providing
00:08:12a livelihood for the returning citizens, God willing, to
00:08:16secure their next steps to invest in
00:08:19their lands, including Syrian food security, so that Syria
00:08:22relies on itself in securing its food and also securing
00:08:26a decent livelihood for citizens. That's why the focus was on
00:08:29combining demining efforts
00:08:32accelerated efforts to return our displaced people to their homes, God
00:08:36willing. We talked about the advanced Ukrainian expertise
00:08:39in this context, Professor Ayman.
00:08:43And it is numerous. The highest cost
00:08:46in this context is the lives of
00:08:49Syrians, some of whom belong to the Ministry of Defense
00:08:52and some of whom belong to the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster
00:08:56Management. And this is also related to our vision for
00:09:00next year of zero tents, God willing.
00:09:03So how will that contribute to
00:09:06reducing this great harm or paying this
00:09:09high price, which is the lives of Syrians?
00:09:12Demining for the return of our people to their places.
00:09:16Okay, let me clarify something first. There is something called
00:09:19humanitarian demining. These areas, let's
00:09:23call them, where military operations
00:09:26do not take place. And there is demining that
00:09:29falls under our brothers
00:09:33scope of work. We are authorized to remove
00:09:36mines for humanitarian purposes. These are the civilian areas we talked about
00:09:39first. But the victims
00:09:42don't distinguish between military or civilian, citizen or child, or
00:09:46anything. The first rule in demining is that the first mistake
00:09:49is the last mistake, okay? So whether for demining
00:09:53workers, whether from the staff of the Ministry of Defense or the staff of
00:10:00the field or civilians in it,
00:10:03we always say that we are in a race against time.
00:10:08count at the end of the day how much progress
00:10:11we have made. If the number
00:10:16we do not have an accurate estimate
00:10:20of the number of mines and war remnants, but there
00:10:23are reports.
00:10:32The desert, agricultural areas, urban areas. When we think
00:10:36about these casualties we have, this is the race
00:10:40against time we are talking about. What
00:10:44are the tactics we follow to reduce
00:10:47human interaction from any
00:10:50party with the possibility of reaching a mine or war
00:10:56the matter, we need technology, cameras,
00:11:00magnetic scanners
00:11:03because they detect the areas where metals are spread,
00:11:06for example. I ask the locals, even the locals always
00:11:10call this non-technical surveying. We ask the residents of the area,
00:11:13do you know anything? Did you see anything suspicious, for example, so that we can
00:11:17build a database that we then use to target
00:11:20areas that we believe or where the probability of mines
00:11:24existing is higher. As for the presence of technology,
00:11:27it allows us to shorten many distances
00:11:34interaction. So Ukraine possesses a lot of this
00:11:38technology, and thank God they are very
00:11:42open to this cooperation. We see it as a strategic
00:11:45step in accelerating and increasing acceleration
00:11:48even, I mean, we have already started, thank God, but to increase
00:11:52the acceleration of operations of disposal and removal and detection
00:11:55first of all of the spread. Very good, Professor Ayman.
00:11:59And we are talking about Syrian expertise, specifically the expertise
00:12:03gained by civil defense volunteers during the years of the revolution,
00:12:06this expertise that was imbued with their blood
00:12:10that was shed because of what the defunct Assad regime left behind
00:12:13and the scar it left in the hearts of all Syrians. Are
00:12:18being prepared in the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster
00:12:23case the ministry is asked to cooperate with any country, as happened with the rescue
00:12:26team that went to Venezuela, as you know,
00:12:30in the middle of this year in June?
00:12:32I think with this question I need
00:12:36to clarify two different things that belong to the Ministry
00:12:39of Emergency and Disaster Management. We have the National Center for Mine Action
00:12:43in mine-affected countries. There is always
00:12:47a central authority
00:12:50that works on building policies, strategies,
00:12:53and prioritizing. And also quality
00:12:57inspection, meaning if a humanitarian
00:12:59organization or a company, for example, tells you that I
00:13:02have cleared 100 hectares in an area in central
00:13:06Syria, who determines if it is true or not? Who says
00:13:09it is safe for people to return and use this land
00:13:13or not? There must be a national authority responsible
00:13:16for this matter that inspects
00:13:20working on the ground, inspects the equipment,
00:13:24inspects the financial resources allocated,
00:13:27because, I mean, the issue of
00:13:30mine disposal is a very expensive matter
00:13:33financially. So these financial resources
00:13:36and human resources must be used in the best and safest
00:13:40possible way. So the National Center does not remove
00:13:43mines, but rather sets the broad policies
00:13:46for disposing of mines
00:13:49Syria. As for the operational side, the Ministry
00:13:53of Emergency and Disaster Management established a department
00:13:57for disposing of war remnants and combating mines, which builds on
00:14:00the legacy of the Syrian Civil Defense, which was
00:14:04active in disposing of war remnants,
00:14:07meaning we increase
00:14:10the training they receive, raise their levels so that
00:14:13they can deal with different types of mines. Why do I say
00:14:18mines are not only
00:14:22metallic. Over time, through the
00:14:25years of revolution, there were many non-military
00:14:28organized militias. Military entities, whatever they were,
00:14:32used military engineering either to plant
00:14:35mines, either in a zigzag pattern or other patterns that
00:14:38can be detected more easily.
00:14:42As for plastic mines or booby traps
00:14:47sewage systems, and these
00:14:51cannot be detected by metal detectors, for example. So you need
00:14:55to improve the quality of training, the quality of this
00:14:58training to deal with different types of munitions used
00:15:02so that you ensure
00:15:06the protection of the workers working in the field of humanitarian
00:15:09demining, and also be able to, when you say
00:15:13that you declare an area
00:15:15as liberated and clean,
00:15:19100% about this report. But
00:15:23I repeat, the margin of error always
00:15:26remains, unfortunately, through the experiences of other nations,
00:15:30the margin of error always remains. That's why we
00:15:34work on raising awareness about the dangers of mines,
00:15:38detecting the shapes of these mines or unexploded
00:15:41ordnance spread in Syria so that the community is
00:15:44the first protector of itself before, God willing,
00:15:47they need any workers
00:15:51So this department established and we are working on it
00:15:5424 hours a day, seven days a week, 365
00:15:58days a year. Yes, to reduce the margin of error,
00:16:01especially the human factor. There are also
00:16:04civilians who fall victim to these mines.
00:16:08How do we reduce? What are the strategies available at the
00:16:11National Mine Action Center to raise awareness among people?
00:16:15This, perhaps, Mr. Fadi
00:16:18can talk better than me about this topic, as I am not
00:16:22a technical person. But the programs
00:16:25are divided into several stages according to
00:16:28the spread reports. But the community
00:16:31is the first protector and the first awareness-raiser for us. We,
00:16:35I mean, we are working on,
00:16:38I mean, the way of working is integrated programs with education,
00:16:41starting from school, because a child can carry
00:16:46the home, and the child is the one who goes out to play. We can introduce
00:16:50them to the forms of these
00:16:53starts from children and families
00:16:55at the beginning. Other matters are responses.
00:16:59I mean, when we discover a certain area that has
00:17:03reports of mines or war remnants spread, we notify
00:17:07the affected community
00:17:15about this danger and restrict access to it so that civilians or users of these lands and areas do not reach it within these programs. This will
00:17:19be integrated, God willing, into the early warning system that we are working on, God
00:17:23willing. Your efforts are appreciated, Professor Ayman Akkad, Director of the Department of International Cooperation at the
00:17:26Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management. You were with us here in the studio. Thank
00:17:30you very much. Thank you. And with
00:17:34this, dear viewers, we come to the end of the Syrian program files tonight.
00:17:37Thank you for your kind follow-up. Thank you. In
00:17:41God's peace and care. Goodbye.
00:18:29For us, God willing, we have served you.
00:18:34detention and lost approximately 15 people from
00:18:38my family. I am the daughter of a completely
00:18:40lost family.
00:18:45I hope God gives you patience and
00:18:48strength. We are by your side until you reach
00:18:51the truth.
00:18:53Your
00:19:00cause is not a secondary cause for us, nor is it
00:19:03a propaganda cause. This is a duty we carry on our shoulders, God willing, we will work on
00:19:55the first delegations that visited Damascus and the German
00:19:58delegation.
00:20:05We believe today there is a very great opportunity to develop this
00:20:09relationship between Syria
00:20:11and Germany.
00:20:17A very important opportunity to be exploited by
00:20:22invest in Syrian sectors.
00:20:35We have passed the stage of getting to know each other and exchanging
00:20:37trust, and now is the right time to start
00:20:40working.
00:21:11And in front of an international scene that is anticipating the path of the new
00:21:13Syria. The Turkish Republic has been a leader
00:21:17in being among the countries that have reopened their embassy
00:21:21doors in Damascus,
00:21:24and has opened its crossings and supply lines.
00:21:28Today we are talking about
00:21:31the presidential and ministerial levels, and 40
00:21:35agreements and memoranda of understanding. Based on this
00:21:38solid foundation, our discussions today revolved around
00:21:41activating the Joint Higher Committee between
00:21:44our two countries. Syria stands today with its full
00:21:47sovereignty to draw its national paths with a free
00:21:50will and choose its partnerships and direct its investments
00:21:54and development based on its
00:21:57supreme interests. This is Syria, she is loved.
00:23:28Well-thought-out steps
00:23:29and plans
00:23:33implemented accurately.
00:23:37Competencies are distributed in the Syrian Ministry of Interior
00:23:40to draw a comprehensive
00:23:44security map.
00:23:50The extended security men have been precisely
00:23:54prepared to secure every
00:23:57inch.
00:24:00Their specialties were diversified to confront all possibilities
00:24:03of danger. Every military uniform
00:24:06tells a story of long training, by
00:24:10God Almighty.
00:24:13By God, for men who swore to perform their duty towards
00:24:16the homeland.
00:24:24the borders, dismantling Captagon and drug smuggling
00:24:28networks.
00:24:36inch of Syrian geography, securing every
00:24:39corner, square,
00:24:41and road. A journey of
00:24:46no stopping, and an endeavor
00:24:51that knows
00:24:51no weariness.
00:24:55Vigilant eyes, complete
00:24:57readiness,
00:25:02for the sake of a tomorrow where stability prevails.
00:25:16I benefited a lot from this meeting. Useful things and we got to know
00:25:20the National Defense Sciences University.
00:27:53Utilizing this dock and starting to work on it is to reduce
00:27:56the waiting time for ships in the anchorage area by increasing
00:28:00the port's capacity and providing better and faster service to customers.
00:30:34The levers for building a nation are numerous and varied, and every government
00:30:37action in this
00:30:41construction. The stronger and more solid those levers
00:30:44are, the faster and stronger the construction
00:30:48process becomes. So in Doha, Syria participates in
00:30:53the Arab Convention against Corruption
00:30:57to gain experience and contribute.