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.
00:00:00responsibilities, especially before.
00:00:01Well, after a month or two A little while ago, it was mentioned that
00:00:04the responsibility today lies with whom? In the framework of these
00:00:07meetings and in the framework of this campaign
00:00:10that came out from the local residents
00:00:14in several areas in Syria, where does
00:00:17the responsibility lie today
00:00:20the impact of this step practically and where does the responsibility end with regard this delay to the citizen. to the Ministry of Energy and also the relevant responsible authorities
00:00:24with regard to the Price Determination Committee and the Syrian Oil Company in
00:00:27the context of this
00:00:32insurance costs. The insurance on crisis? Well, in my opinion, at least, the responsibility is the responsibility of the Permanent Price
00:00:35Determination Committee, which was impromptu and quick in this matter and did not
00:00:39take the matter in its entirety,
00:00:42meaning its effects on the Syrian citizen, and then
00:00:46the governmental approach in managing the country's resources or
00:00:49even in the general administration of the state.
00:00:52It seems that even in certain places, the ministries or even
00:00:56the institutions are scattered islands within the governmental
00:00:59structure. One would assume that they are
00:01:03all interconnected and that every decision concerns
00:01:06other ministries or departments and other interconnected institutions and departments,
00:01:10and at the same time it has its impact and is affected
00:01:13by it. In the end, the citizen is
00:01:17concerned with this matter. In the event that there was a previous government discourse
00:01:21solution, and everything that is happening regarding fateful decisions related to government services or
00:01:25the living economy for the citizen,
00:01:29there is something called public opinion preparation,
00:01:32meaning popular or by explaining the global
00:01:36crisis, by explaining
00:01:38regarding securing the economic situation and the general budget
00:01:42protection perspective, what is required today from of the state, and that the current situation is not shameful
00:01:46the number, 8 million a day, 80,000 a day. to mention, or even this thing is not hidden, that the state treasury is empty,
00:01:48and this is a natural matter for a country that has emerged from a conflict
00:01:52to the global increase in that lasted for a decade and a half. So all this talk
00:01:55that you are preparing, any citizen is not
00:01:59I don't expect any specific citizen to prefer
00:02:02his luxury and personal comfort or even
00:02:05the filling
00:02:08In every corner of this of his treasury or even the pressure
00:02:12of his expenditures to prefer personal needs
00:02:15over the issue of standing with his government to move
00:02:19to the issue of development and welfare or even stability
00:02:23paid. I mean, it is not under the circumstances. However, Mr. Gelo, you
00:02:26and Labor to have a role in just mentioned that the price determination
00:02:28committee has the greatest responsibility regarding this crisis. But if
00:02:33that issues oil derivatives on we want to divide the tasks today regarding the provision of fuel
00:02:36and also the increase in prices, who is
00:02:39responsible?
00:02:44the reasons are far from Now, if you explain my question more precisely, no, the responsibility
00:02:46I said, regarding the provision of fuel and also
00:02:50the pricing, especially since prices are linked, as
00:02:55he worked hard in preparing the response. mentioned, to the global crisis. Today, if we want to talk about securing fuel and setting
00:03:00prices related to the rise
00:03:02in these fuels and oil derivatives, who
00:03:06is the biggest responsible
00:03:08in exchange for gaining or the concerned party in that?
00:03:11Now, the responsibility for securing fuel lies with the Syrian Oil Company.
00:03:15It is the one that has been leading this, and its efforts, I told
00:03:19that cannot be compensated. The issue of transparency you, are tremendous in this matter. Even our
00:03:23unable to cope with this discussion is not concerned with the individuals of the ministers. Mr. Muhammad Al-Bashir
00:03:25is a person, as the colleagues mentioned, and more than what was mentioned
00:03:29about his vital activity, even
00:03:32his productivity during his work in the transitional
00:03:35government and even before, in Al-Qas's previous government.
00:03:39So all these issues are not related to individuals. I am talking
00:03:42about them. As for our view, in recent times, we have seen that
00:03:46the greatest responsibility fell on
00:03:49the Minister of Energy. Therefore, I asked you about
00:03:52the division of tasks and responsibilities in
00:03:56relation to these entities. The responsibilities for securing
00:04:01crisis." This fuel lie with the Syrian
00:04:02Opacity and Petroleum Company, and it is doing this, and even, as I told
00:04:05you, oil tankers, gas, and other fuels are all available
00:04:08and all are queued up This matter was
00:04:12not present six months ago or even
00:04:15more. They used to wait for the tanker
00:04:19of the government? What is required of for months. The issue of roads in Syria and tank trucks
00:04:23for transporting fuel and crude oil,
00:04:26whether from Iraq or even from the Syrian fields in
00:04:30the eastern region, is also hindering the roads in Syria, and this
00:04:33matter is a slogan or an achievement of
00:04:37for anything the government asks of him. But do the Syrian Petroleum Company, which is currently, as I told
00:04:41card itself. you, bearing some
00:04:43I mean, he doesn't of the courageous decisions it made, which were presented
00:04:46in the media as fighting corruption or other tools,
00:04:49and this is not concerned with it because there are people
00:04:53who made decisions to import
00:04:55of Endowments? To discuss this or even to secure fuel for the country, or matter is that they and this is not within the People's Assembly's even to prevent its access to external
00:04:57parties this kind, facing attempts that destabilize Syria, or even
00:05:01they
00:05:03through maintenance
00:05:06decisions issued recently. The diesel and the issue of updating and developing
00:05:09production lines and supply.
00:05:12So it was, as I told you, taken
00:05:15as issues that were issued as combating corruption
00:05:19recently. As for the issue of pricing, it is the Permanent
00:05:23Committee itself that is concerned and bears this responsibility.
00:05:26The foundations it adopted are, as I told
00:05:29you, the problem is that the foundations are objective, objective
00:05:33in a crisis, in rising
00:05:36costs of securing oil,
00:05:39in shipping costs, in even
00:05:44tankers has increased. All these are objective in a global
00:05:48rise, in an energy crisis that may be futuristic.
00:05:51I mean, currently, these are its beginnings.
00:05:54However, on the Syrian level, that is not concerned. The basic
00:05:58function of the state is social
00:06:01security or government support for certain sectors,
00:06:05and it is the government that will be in charge of this point, which I would like to address
00:06:09regarding... Well, excuse me, I will get back to you, but let me
00:06:13just complete this phrase later. The Minister of
00:06:16Energy issued a decision to divide prices into three categories.
00:06:19This will also be a problem because we do not have government data
00:06:22that determines the categories that
00:06:26will be within the price of 115, and those within the price of
00:06:29150, and those within the price of 195. So this is a temporary
00:06:34resembles nothing but patting the citizen
00:06:37on the shoulder in an economic matter, not a moral
00:06:40or emotional matter. It needs to be addressed.
00:06:43Well, and this point regarding any global increase
00:06:46is that it should not negatively affect the Syrian
00:06:49citizen. Mr. Abdul Razzaq, from a consumer
00:06:55the concerned and responsible
00:06:57authorities, specifically regarding the increase in prices
00:07:01and linking this increase in prices
00:07:05the market?
00:07:08I mean, the truth is, let me in the Parliament session, I actually
00:07:12have a comment on
00:07:15the Minister's answer, despite the efforts the Minister made in
00:07:18preparing the answers. There is no doubt that he took enough time
00:07:22to answer. If we observe, or rather, if one observes carefully,
00:07:25what the Minister said, it was a kind of tone he used,
00:07:29or a hidden threat to the citizen, saying, "Brother, if
00:07:32you want us to lower the price and provide the material,
00:07:36we must go back to the smart card." And I consider this answer
00:07:40or this response to be honestly inappropriate. We
00:07:43didn't wait all this time and waited for the change to the new Syria
00:07:46to hear such a response, going back to the past. It's either
00:07:50you accept the fait accompli or we go back to the past, and this
00:07:54is truly hurtful to the citizen. It is assumed
00:07:57that there are better solutions than this. First,
00:08:01of course, this was a comment. We, the Minister, was tired in his response,
00:08:04of course, and
00:08:08The other matter is that I, as a citizen, do not have
00:08:12the ability to offer the government anything but the physical effort I have.
00:08:15The government tells me to work 18 hours for the minimum subsistence level.
00:08:19I am willing to live on the minimum subsistence level and I am willing to work day and night
00:08:23to feed my children. But to link me to the global
00:08:27issue, the issue of the free economy that you imposed on us
00:08:30suddenly, you left the citizen in confusion, you left the citizen
00:08:35reality. Some opportunists exploited this current reality,
00:08:39just as they will exploit the issue of the three types
00:08:43of fuel that will happen later, and I believe it will happen,
00:08:46and there is no minister who can monitor, or the Ministry of Economy can monitor,
00:08:50all establishments, or all sellers, or all stations to prevent fraud.
00:08:53There will definitely be some kind of fraud and manipulation. But to link me
00:08:57to the outside, to link me to the dollar issue, to link me to the dollarization
00:09:00of markets, this issue is unacceptable for the consumer. We, the Syrian
00:09:04consumer, are simple consumers. We
00:09:08have suffered a lot and worked hard, and you tell me, "Oh, it changed globally, and there is a global
00:09:13whole matter does not concern me. I have three children whom I need
00:09:17to feed and water, and I am willing to make every possible effort with the government.
00:09:20I mean, hand in hand with the government, despite
00:09:23our many observations on the way the protests happened. We are talking
00:09:27rationally. As a citizen, what do you ask
00:09:31the Syrian citizen to offer the government
00:09:34to help it make decisions? Give me the guide to follow
00:09:38and the plan I can offer, and I am ready. As a citizen, I am speaking,
00:09:42of course, on behalf of the Syrian consumer in general across Syria.
00:09:46The Syrian citizen is ready
00:09:50not burden him beyond his capacity. Do not give me things that I cannot
00:09:53implement. And there is a saying, "The dead cannot protect the dead." The Syrian
00:09:57citizen is tired, and the government is tired. I cannot blame the government. The government
00:10:01has policies that can improve
00:10:04matters and secure the citizen's minimum livelihood.
00:10:08And this is what we did not find in the Parliament session.
00:10:12We did not find it in the opinion of economists. We did not find it in the impromptu
00:10:18issue, this type of diesel division, was actually
00:10:21an unsatisfactory and ineffective
00:10:25solution. Its implementation is very difficult.
00:10:28Its implementation is very difficult, and
00:10:30there will be consequences if it is implemented.
00:10:34Well, Mr. Yarob, regarding prices
00:10:37and also the cost of importing gasoline and diesel,
00:10:40how much is it in Syria, especially since some people are talking about
00:10:44a lack of transparency? Do you think there is transparency regarding
00:10:48the import offer and even transportation and securing the exchange
00:10:51rate in the context of what happened?
00:10:55No one in Syria knows who this contract is with, what
00:10:58is the value of this contract, how much
00:11:02is the price? I mean, today, the Minister informed us that we have
00:11:05debts of 1.2
00:11:09billion dollars to the fuel supplier company. This is a debt on the Electricity
00:11:12Establishment, meaning the Electricity Establishment which is affiliated
00:11:16with its ministry as well. This is a debt on all of us. This is a debt
00:11:19on Syria, not a debt on one institution or
00:11:23one person. This is not a debt on Mr. Muhammad Al-Bashir. This is a debt on us.
00:11:27To whom is this debt? Who has
00:11:30this debt on us that we have to pay? We do not
00:11:33know who
00:11:36supplies the oil derivatives. We do not
00:11:39know. This is also one of the problems of lack of transparency,
00:11:42because we might wake up at some point to a bigger
00:11:45crisis, and we don't know how we will deal with it.
00:11:49Uh, I mean, even
00:11:53in the figures that the Minister mentioned,
00:11:56that every day we have a bill
00:12:00of, I think, 825
00:12:02825
00:12:04dollars, or in a month, 8 million, sorry, and
00:12:08uh, I forgot, I forgot
00:12:11The important thing is that this number
00:12:15is what we pay. I mean, we are now paying the price
00:12:19of electricity and oil derivatives at the global
00:12:22price. Uh, I mean, a citizen, and we have a production
00:12:26of 12,000 or 11,000 barrels, fluctuating, as
00:12:30some said, some days it reaches, or it reached in a previous period,
00:12:33140. Now there are between 100
00:12:36and 140,000 barrels, depending on the state of the wells. So this is also
00:12:3914,000 barrels. What is its price? I mean, it is a number that is already
00:12:42uh,
00:12:45I mean,
00:12:48paid as a form of support. The government is
00:12:52not uh, the one that pays the price
00:12:55of these fuels. This is paid in the market. I mean, today, diesel in Syria is more expensive than
00:12:59Lebanon, by the way. It is more expensive than Lebanon, and Lebanon
00:13:02is a free market all its life. It is a free market for oil
00:13:06derivatives. Uh, but this contract, we
00:13:10do not know, not only the value, we do not
00:13:13know the mechanisms, we do not know who. I mean, we do not
00:13:17know who is supplying these
00:13:20derivatives, as if it is a national secret
00:13:23or, I don't know, a nuclear secret. I don't know.
00:13:26Uh, I mean, there are leaks. I don't want to talk
00:13:30about leaks that so-and-so
00:13:33is doing this and so-and-so is doing that. I mean, there are two companies
00:13:36that are supplying. I mean, supplying
00:13:39derivatives. Uh, the other problem,
00:13:42it was announced also in the press conference two days ago
00:13:46with the General Manager of Syria Oil about the re-operation
00:13:49of
00:13:52I think they called them electric refineries. I mean,
00:13:56what we actually call
00:13:58"burners." These are what there is a complaint
00:14:02about, an environmental complaint and an economic complaint, and they open the door
00:14:05to I mean, to smuggling
00:14:09and open the door to producing products that are not
00:14:13up to specifications and may be harmful
00:14:15to engines.
00:14:17It seems they reached solutions, I mean, to re-operate
00:14:20the burners, but under state supervision.
00:14:24Uh, to return to, I mean,
00:14:27the smart card, which was the Syrians' favorite
00:14:30joke for a few years, for four or five
00:14:33years, or to the coupons that were
00:14:37uh, the oppression of Syrians during the eighties
00:14:40and nineties. I mean, we are going back
00:14:44a lot. As I said, I mean,
00:14:47it is not a problem in this specific detail.
00:14:50It is not in the price of diesel now or the price of gasoline
00:14:54now. The problem is in the way important
00:14:58economic files are managed, vital
00:15:01files related to people's livelihoods.
00:15:04The management of government affairs,
00:15:08the management of people's daily lives. This
00:15:11is an issue that has its schools, and it is a tried
00:15:15and tested issue, and Syria has many experiences
00:15:17with types of rule, meaning the mechanism as a whole.
00:15:21Well, I will get back to you on this point. Let me
00:15:25go to Dr. Bakir. Dr. Bakir, the Ministry addressed
00:15:28difficulties or perhaps even obstacles
00:15:32related to financial transfers, related to
00:15:35currency exchange, and also securing financing.
00:15:38How can these obstacles be overcome, in your opinion?
00:15:41How can these
00:15:45obstacles be resolved? Actually, as the esteemed guests
00:15:48mentioned and explained this issue,
00:15:52the state should bear
00:15:55the largest part of this problem, and the citizen should not bear it.
00:15:59Regarding financial transfers, there is a monthly figure
00:16:02of approximately 851 million dollars
00:16:04that the state bears for
00:16:08fuel. Of course, there were, as you know,
00:16:11sanctions on Syria, and financial transfers, even now, the
00:16:14SWIFT system has not been fully activated
00:16:18so that the state
00:16:21can sign contracts with international parties,
00:16:25with countries, so that Syria can be supplied
00:16:28with oil derivatives and fuel. And
00:16:32even regarding the activation of SWIFT, it is also related to the fuel
00:16:35crisis.
00:16:39Yes, because there are, as the Minister
00:16:42explained, when contracts
00:16:46are established or signed with countries, they fundamentally need
00:16:50financial transfers, they need there to be a transfer from the Central
00:16:53Bank to these countries. And it was mentioned that
00:16:57there are discussions or negotiations with some Gulf countries
00:17:01as a state, and not as a private company,
00:17:04to supply some oil derivatives to Syria, God willing,
00:17:08and through several other countries. Therefore,
00:17:12there is a real crisis
00:17:15or transferring funds from the Central Bank
00:17:19to other countries that are being considered
00:17:23for some agreements to supply oil derivatives. I actually
00:17:25say in this
00:17:29field that the state should
00:17:32solve the problem, as the brothers before me
00:17:35said. The issue of categories
00:17:39is an emergency solution, a solution that will increase the problem
00:17:43because it will open another door to corruption,
00:17:46and there is no clear vision and clear strategy to control
00:17:50the mechanism of its distribution and its mechanism. However, in my personal opinion,
00:17:53and this was discussed with some colleagues in the People's Assembly,
00:17:57and the discussion was held with the Minister, there should be a role
00:18:00for the Ministry of Social Affairs
00:18:03pricing to
00:18:06study the impact of this pricing
00:18:10marginalized groups in the first place or poor groups,
00:18:14and support should actually be directly directed to
00:18:18poor groups by providing direct support
00:18:22to them in other forms, and
00:18:25to maintain the price of fuel at an affordable level for
00:18:29everyone, especially since it coincides with the rise
00:18:32in electricity bills, and we are approaching winter.
00:18:36And as you know, this issue has major repercussions on agriculture
00:18:40and on transportation and several other issues. We are
00:18:44actually in need of a quick
00:18:46solution. The People's Assembly session was an attempt
00:18:50to understand what is happening and an attempt to influence
00:18:53to find a solution and to think with the government, with
00:18:56the Ministry of Energy in particular, to find
00:18:58a solution that ensures that the matter is easy
00:19:02for citizens and that citizens do not bear
00:19:05any burden in this stage, the stage of transition from the socialist
00:19:09system to the free Syrian economy.
00:19:13Well, Mr. Abdul Razzaq, in the context of the statements issued by the Ministry
00:19:16of Energy, the Minister stated that a number
00:19:19of wells were shut down, and even the Baniyas
00:19:23refinery. What are the justifications
00:19:25for the shutdown at this particular time, and to what extent will that have
00:19:29an impact on the increase in
00:19:32oil prices and fuel prices
00:19:34as a whole?
00:19:38We return and say that wrong
00:19:41or improvised or bureaucratic decisions issued at the wrong
00:19:45time actually have a very negative impact on the issue of
00:19:48fuel, not just fuel, but on the issue of the economy in general.
00:19:52Unstudied and improvised decisions,
00:19:55like the last decision, a quick and improvised decision, the issue of dividing
00:19:58diesel categories, actually has a negative impact
00:20:02on the consumer and on the economy in general. But I want to comment
00:20:05on the People's Assembly session again.
00:20:08What did this session offer? There was a glimmer of hope for the citizen
00:20:11that positive decisions or positive solutions would be issued,
00:20:15but unfortunately, nothing was issued by the People's Assembly.
00:20:18In fact, not even the discussions that took place within the People's Assembly had
00:20:22any spark. And in fact, we consider this session to be a kind
00:20:25of waste of time.
00:20:29And there should be solutions within the Ministry
00:20:32of Energy, within the government in general, from
00:20:35the concerted efforts
00:20:37of all ministers in the government. I do not specifically mention the Minister of Energy.
00:20:41The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Agriculture, everything
00:20:44concerned with this ministry is supposed to intervene to solve this dilemma.
00:20:48Impromptu, wrong, bureaucratic, and patching decisions do not bear
00:20:51fruit at such a sensitive time for
00:20:54citizens. Well, the same point, Mr. Gelo, regarding
00:20:58the shutdown of a number of wells and even the Baniyas refineries.
00:21:01What does that mean? The discussion today is about rehabilitating these wells at
00:21:05this particular stage, and how will it be, or how do you see
00:21:10on the ground?
00:21:12Now, I told you, in this regard, the Syrian Petroleum Company is
00:21:16truly working day and night on
00:21:20updating and developing production
00:21:23and its organization
00:21:25and modernization. All these issues are interconnected.
00:21:29The age that the Baniyas refinery is subject
00:21:33to, which is
00:21:35about 30 years old, is similar
00:21:39to the age of these wells. These wells,
00:21:43after the state took control of them from
00:21:46the Syrian Democratic Forces, after a period
00:21:50of receiving them, were in a primitive
00:21:53and very destroyed state. Many purification and refining
00:21:56stations and the issue of treatment and even the connection
00:21:59between gas wells and oil wells, and even
00:22:03gas supplies coming from oil wells,
00:22:07all these issues are related to their maintenance,
00:22:10modernization, organization, and increasing their efficiency.
00:22:14This is interconnected. Perhaps it came interconnected
00:22:17in
00:22:29the discussion as if it is the main and fundamental cause.
00:22:33No, not at all, Mr. Dima. I mentioned in my intervention
00:22:36last week that the Baniyas refinery
00:22:40is concerned with refining light
00:22:44oil coming from the Rmeilan fields. Only Rmeilan
00:22:47produces oil.
00:22:50It is subject to refining in Syria. As for
00:22:54the others, Al-Omar and Jabsah, all of them are heavy
00:22:58oil that was exported in its poor condition to Lebanon, and from there
00:23:01perhaps for local use in Lebanon or even exported,
00:23:05but it is difficult to export, cheap, and difficult to refine.
00:23:08Perhaps it was refined during certain stages during the Assad regime's era at the Homs
00:23:12station, which led to two fires
00:23:16and perhaps the last one led to the refinery exploding and something like
00:23:20the Beirut port explosion
00:23:22in uh, years ago in Lebanon.
00:23:26All these issues, I told you, are discussed
00:23:30as reasons, but
00:23:34this issue. I told you, despite their objectivity,
00:23:37the main reason is the governmental approach
00:23:41of avoiding the street and dealing with it
00:23:44with an economic principle and seeking only financial
00:23:48profit, and not that the government
00:23:51bears the burden of certain aspects of
00:23:55society
00:23:58the trust of this society, because the loss
00:24:02of money can be compensated, but the loss of trust between the state and society, which
00:24:05it represents, is the link
00:24:09in prices is also a missing issue. The session was
00:24:12like running on a treadmill,
00:24:16exhausting in the same place. I mean, we did not reach
00:24:20a result. The Minister said, "It is this, this, this,
00:24:23this." Even in the Minister's speech, there is a lack
00:24:26of transparency regarding the price of Qatari
00:24:29gas. I mean, I may not
00:24:33be accurate in this, but what I know is that it was
00:24:36free, that the gas coming from
00:24:40a tanker in Aqaba port. Well, where is this source from the same
00:24:44tanker? Let the Syrian citizen know
00:24:46the prices and their sources.
00:24:52what seems like obfuscation for the citizen is not a successful
00:24:55government method or a state method. Well, let me move to
00:24:59my guest, civilian leadership, before the time
00:25:02runs out. Mr. Yarob, the Minister of Energy said that if the Parliament
00:25:06approves the return of the smart card, it is the easiest
00:25:09and best solution at this particular stage. Have
00:25:13all solutions been exhausted so that we return
00:25:16to this solution? Does the
00:25:19Ministry no longer have any solutions,
00:25:23and do we really resort to the smart card, or what? He
00:25:27says anything. I think he doesn't mean the smart
00:25:33need a decision from the People's Assembly,
00:25:38authority. This
00:25:41are now facing a crisis of
00:25:45to justify or explain a crisis of this kind. Anything can be said.
00:25:48I mean, even the reasons that
00:25:52the Minister presents: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the rise in oil prices
00:25:55globally, and the age of the Baniyas refinery. I mean, now we
00:25:59are discussing why it's the right time for maintenance.
00:26:04from now, the Strait of Hormuz will have opened, and the Baniyas
00:26:07refinery will have finished its maintenance. What will happen? Will
00:26:11diesel and gasoline return to a price of, for example,
00:26:1511 or 10? Or I mean, giving
00:26:18this, I mean,
00:26:21And I believe the problem here is that the problem lies
00:26:24here: that the ceiling of expectations for the citizen has been raised
00:26:28over a year and a half. It has been
00:26:39I mean, I don't think the matter is serious or applicable
00:26:42in its form, and what will happen,
00:26:46what will actually happen is that three
00:26:48types of diesel will enter the market
00:26:52and all of them
00:26:55will be sold, all of them will be sold
00:26:59at the highest price. This is tested. We have tested it in Syria.
00:27:03This is tested. There will be something called a black market.
00:27:07We will buy bad diesel at a high price.
00:27:10This is what will happen on the ground. Thank you, thank you. I thank
00:27:14you very much, Yarob Al-Issa, a journalist, who was with us from Damascus.
00:27:18Thank you very much, and I thank Dr. Mohammed Al-Bakir, a member of the People's
00:27:21Assembly from Damascus, and thanks to Abdul Razzaq Habza, Secretary
00:27:25of the Consumer Protection Association in Syria, who was with us from
00:27:28Damascus. And I also thank Ammar Gelo, a researcher in the field
00:27:32of energy, who was with us from Baniyas. Thank you very much,
00:27:35my dear
00:27:44of the role of religious leaders in intervention. in public affairs, and do
00:27:47their statements align with the approach of the Ministry of Endowments? Join us.
00:28:10country,
00:28:15there is a story worth telling,
00:28:18and perhaps you are the first to tell it. First,
00:28:21we, at Syria
00:28:25TV, are launching the
00:28:28People's Camera. Document, send,
00:28:32and be a contributing part of making the news.
00:28:36The people in the People's Camera, your lens,
00:28:40makes the news.
00:28:51We are sitting inside and someone is being tortured here, we cry over them,
00:28:55and we hear the pain of the bones that are
00:28:56breaking.
00:29:05Every blanket I smell, I feel that there is blood mixed
00:29:09with the smell of humans.
00:29:13When they call our names for torture, you actually don't know if you will come back alive or
00:29:17dead.
00:29:23I remember hearing the grey hairs cracking
00:29:25in my head.
00:29:30The soul that is tortured does not go away.
00:30:36Some religious figures criticized in their statements, and others in
00:30:40Friday sermons, activities held under official government patronage.
00:30:43Others called for a boycott of those activities
00:30:47and directed accusations against those in charge of them. So what are the limits of the role of
00:30:50religious figures in interfering in public affairs, and do
00:30:54their statements align with the directives of the Ministry
00:30:58issue, Dr. joins us.