In landmark UN speech, Syrian president vows to rebuild Syria, calls for world support

• Syria is ‘writing a new chapter in its story, titled peace, stability, and prosperity,’ president tells UN General Assembly
• Sharaa expresses gratitude to countries stood by Syria, particularly Türkiye, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, all Arab, Islamic states, US, EU

ISTANBUL

Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said Wednesday that his country is rebuilding itself after years of war, calling on the international community to support the process.

“Syria today is rebuilding itself, and as a nation of civilization, it deserves to be a state of law,” Sharaa told world leaders in his historic appearance at the UN General Assembly, the first by a Syrian head of state since 1967.

Syria is “writing a new chapter in its story, titled peace, stability, and prosperity,” he added in a speech that lasted less than nine minutes.

The president expressed gratitude to countries that stood by Syria during difficult times, particularly Türkiye, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, all Arab and Islamic states, the US, and the EU.

Sharaa further pledged Syria’s commitment to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement with Israel, urging the international community to respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We call on the world to stand with us in the face of these dangers,” he stressed.

Sharaa said the Syrian people had endured horrors under the former regime of Bashar al-Assad.

“The former regime, in its war against our people, used the most horrific tools of torture and killing: barrel bombs, chemical weapons, prison torture, forced displacement, sowing sectarian and ethnic strife, and even narcotics as a weapon against our people and the world,” he said.

The deposed regime “held our beautiful country hostage, killed nearly one million people, tortured hundreds of thousands, displaced around 14 million people, and destroyed nearly two million homes over the heads of their inhabitants,” the president added.

“The vulnerable population was targeted with chemical weapons in more than 200 documented attacks. Yes, our women, children, and youth inhaled toxic gases,” Sharaa said.

He pointed out that what happened was “a confrontation that brought down a criminal regime…. in a battle that caused no displacement, no civilian deaths, and was crowned with a victory free of vengeance or hostility, through which the people regained their rights.”

“Through this victory, Syria has transformed from a country that exported crises into a historic opportunity to establish stability, peace, and prosperity for Syria and for the entire region,” Sharaa said.

The Syrian president arrived in New York on Sunday with several ministers to take part in the annual UN meetings, ending nearly six decades of Syrian absence from the world body’s top forum.

Syria has boycotted the Assembly at the presidential level since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when Israel occupied the Golan Heights. Damascus long accused the UN and other international institutions of siding with Israel because of backing from the US and its Western allies.

The last Syrian leader to attend the UN summit was former President Nureddin al-Atassi, who served from 1966 to 1970.

Since Assad’s ouster in late 2024, Syria’s new administration has pursued political and economic reforms while promoting social cohesion and working to expand cooperation with regional and international partners.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia last December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. Sharaa’s new transitional administration was formed in January.