Please welcome to the stage, Bagdadi Capital.
Very good morning and welcome to Concordia. This summit is so different because it's having a historic conversation. So my name is Bagdadi and I serve as the founder and executive chairman of Bagdadi Capital. I want to tell you a story. A story of a boy born in Damascus back in 1969, raised in a middle-class family, and with a dream of one day taking his family name from a Middle Eastern country to the world.
But that boy had no options because he was in Syria under one of the most aggressive regimes in the world. His life and the lives of millions of Syrians were marred by a corrupt and violent government, and international sanctions limited his opportunities.
That boy worked and scratched a name for himself and his family far away from his beloved Syria. He got a new nationality and found success in the UK, Europe, the US, and other places, but not in his beloved Syria.
US, yes, us, the land of freedom, the land of opportunity, people about serving their dream.
Decades, ladies and gentlemen, decades of oppression and mental abuse. A place where you could not even breathe without having to pay someone for it.
Last year, on November 29th, while a few blocks away from this hotel where we stand today, and gentlemen, in... although it might have taken... later, while he was waiting at JFK airport to Spain on the 7th of December, a late night flight, it was already the 8th of December in Syria, with his heart on fire, he was praying to Damascus and God.
Syrians for decades now come, ladies and gentlemen, that was given the greatest honor of his life to stand in front of you and the free today and introduce the hero, the man that brought freedom back to Syria, that brought it back to all Syrians in the homeland and abroad, the man that will lead all Syrians to a new era.
Mr. President, welcome to the US, the land of freedom. Welcome to the land of democracy. Welcome to the land of dreams. Together we acknowledge all sacrifices you have made to Syria, to all Syrians, and we are all aware of the challenges that you will face in leading Syria to the shining future ahead of us. JFK said once: 'Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask yourself what you can do for your country.' Mr. President, you have brought back freedom.
Syrians, you brought it back. JFK, I want to say to all Syrians in the land and abroad: thank you, Mr. President. For the first time, it is our time to ask ourselves what we can do for Syria, now that you, President, brought back Syria for all of us, ladies and gentlemen.
The greatest honor.
Well, good morning to you all. We gather at a moment when the global order is being reshaped by conflict, competition, diplomacy, and urgent demands of reconstruction. Few places embody these challenges more starkly than Syria, a nation emerging from well over a decade of devastating civil war, political upheaval, and humanitarian crisis, and for more than 50 years of brutal rule by the murderous regime and his son.
Today's conversation, however, will not be about Syria's past. Rather, it is about the choices and challenges ahead for Syria's governance, for people's security and dignity, and for its place in the international community. We will explore the delicate balance between reconciliation and justice, the rebuilding of shattered institutions, and the role of regional and global actors in shaping Syria's future.
It is my privilege to interview His Excellency Ahmed Al-sharaa, President of the Syrian Republic, born in 1982 and raised in Damascus. The President rose to prominence as a rebel commander during the Syrian civil war and ultimately built and then led the force that toppled the Assad government in late 2024.
From insurgent leader to head of state, it has been one of the most dramatic political transformations in modern history. Today he presides over nearly 25 million people in a country that faces the demands of establishing security and governance, and also overseeing reconstruction, the return of displaced Syrians, and the challenges of reconciling deeply divided communities. Please join me in welcoming President Al-sharaa to the stage.
And as you know, President, I have over 37 years in the US Army, and I was a soldier, not a diplomat. I hope you'll forgive me if I get the first question out of the way, because the fact is that we were on different sides. When I was commanding the surge in Iraq, you were, of course, hunted by US forces for some years, including again when I was the four-star there. And here you are now, the President of Syria, whose force liberated the country from the murderous regime, to participate in your first UN General Assembly as the President of your country earlier this year. You met the President of the United States, among many other world leaders. Please help us understand how you got from Al-Qaeda in Iraq 20 years ago to where you are today, Syria's head of state, on stage in New York City.
Welcome. It is good that we were at one time on a battlefield, and now we have moved to a field of dialogue. Yes, sir. This is something... those who have fought in war are the people who understand best the importance of peace. First of all, the past has its own particular rulings. You learn by the customs and laws of that era, because when we want to judge history, we must judge it by the laws of the past, not by the laws of the present. Some people err when they try to judge historical events of the past by the laws of the present, or judge the present by the laws of the past. Therefore, that past era was an era with its own particular circumstances. There was an occupation of Iraq, there were many disturbances in the region, in Palestine, in our surroundings. Syria was greatly threatened, and the size of the era at that time, and awareness, and the passion of the youth as well — all of these were factors that helped shape the choices of that era. The important thing is that the intentions were sound: to defend people and people's rights, and to save children and women from the injustice that was happening in the region. This is the constant line. Perhaps some mistakes occur sometimes in anyone's journey, but the important thing is that we remain focused on protecting people from the dangers that surround them during disturbances that occur in any region. Our commitment to this line is what brought us today to where we are, and we sit together as friends.
Well, again, as a former commander of forces in two different wars, in fact, I'm fascinated by your skill in putting together a force, and I assume recruiting, training, equipping, conducting leader development courses, and so forth, to build a force that could rapidly take Aleppo, and then, of course, Homs, and the road to Damascus is clear, and you topple a regime that had been in control of your country for 50 years. How did you do this? Again, how did you train this force, and then...
There are many military aspects we can talk about. First of all, the balance of power is not measured by the size of the force, its bulk, or the equipment it has. Many great powers have entered into conflicts with small groups, and small groups have prevailed over great powers. So the measure of war is not the size of the force. First, there is the credibility and legitimacy of the cause for which one fights. The truth, sometimes or always, is strong in itself; it needs someone to carry it, nurture it, and support it. The cause of the Syrian people was a cause that was entirely right and noble. The regime committed horrific massacres against the people: it gassed them, displaced them from their lands, shelled them with explosive munitions on the heads of residents in the heart of their homes, killed many children, tortured many people in prisons. Saydnaya prison, whose evil the whole world witnessed, burned people's bodies and put them in mass graves. It violated many, raped many women, violated children. There are more than 250,000 missing in Syria to this moment. There are about a million people killed in Syria over the past 14 years, not to mention economic plunder and the theft of people's livelihoods and money. So the cause was built on a just cause, and the defense of all that we mentioned earlier. Militarily, we always found that small, disciplined forces defeat large, undisciplined ones. Of course, there were large forces before us: Russia, with its aircraft and its military equipment and its bases, was present. Also, Iranian support for many militias was present on the ground. A number of Iranian experts were present on Syrian territory. Hezbollah as well, and the regime's forces at the same time. All of these were large forces compared to the forces we were leading or that we would face. But we chose the right time and the right place to enter. We focused on operations that targeted a state of collapse in the enemy, rather than wanting to fight every soldier present or every military position. Tactical operations, including flanking, swift and sudden strikes, and working day and night with the same intensity. And the military force we were leading was not only a military army; it was accompanied by a large civilian army. We had institutions for sanitation, for education, for police stations, for many cadres related to people's services, from bread to flour to many other things, that moved behind the military army. So every area we entered, basic services entered with it directly. In Idlib, there was a proper establishment of all these institutions and these military and civilian forces at the same time. Therefore, we gained great experience during the period of our administration of the Idlib region, which qualified us to reach Damascus with this speed. And thank God, the battle was fought with the fewest casualties. It is said that the greatest victory is the one that costs the least.
What do you wonder if you will through commitment to unify Syria and to not major rule but also minority, a commitment that is particularly important given the many ethnic, sectarian, tribal, and other elements in your country?
Since I am now trying to be a military general, I have to rely a bit on military examples. As you know, in war it is difficult for a person to avoid civilians during a major military operation; sometimes mistakes happen. But the military battle we fought over 11 days, the battle of liberation, was filled with mercy, justice, and kindness to people, and it was characterized by forgiveness, and it was fought at the lowest cost. So if a person's behavior during hot combat is keen to protect people, and at the same time he has a duty to liberate the region militarily from facing great forces, how will his behavior be in times of peace and in managing communities? Syria inherited many disturbances over the past 60 years. The gentleman who spoke before me was speaking about his experience, about deprivation, and about Syria over 60 years. The regime relied on social division and on stirring up sectarian tensions. Especially over the past 20 years, many sectarian tensions have flared in the Middle East, and Syria was one of the most prominent places where sectarian tensions were stirred up. It has problems, it has remnants, and it was built on frightening people from one another so that the ruler could remain in control. But we adopted a different policy. We cannot solve all problems at once, but gradually. And there are many parties that were upset when they saw that after the fall of the regime, society had come together and that society was unified around the current Syrian presidency. So they repeated their previous experiments by stirring up some sectarian tensions. We cannot solve Syria's problems all at once. Sound reason leads us to break these problems down and solve each one separately, within the priorities of the transitional phase. And one of the most important priorities is security stability in Syria, through the unity of the Syrian people, the unity of Syrian territory, and the monopolization of weapons by the state. All of these lead to security stability in Syria, and at the same time economic development, because a destroyed and devastated country needs a great deal of development. There is a close link between economic development and security stability.
Given how devastated Syria has been by the terrible civil war of well over a decade, how do you envision... and what... you...
There was a rupture in relations between the United States and Syria over many years, and also tense relations with the West in particular. The fall of the regime gave a new opportunity, a new historical phase for a region that the whole world has suffered from for 60 years, especially the past 40 years, and particularly the last 14 years. I believe this historical transformation gave the region a new breath. There are converging interests — I don't say intersecting, but converging interests — between Syria and the West and America in its current phase. And I believe that if we want to speak the language of interests, there are many things that can be built upon between Syria and the United States of America and the West in general. I am trying to prevent Syria from seeking only aid and friendship, but rather from seeking the lifting of restrictions as a first step. Before we talk about what we want from the United States, we first want the restrictions imposed on Syria to be lifted, because the United States imposed sanctions because of the actions of the Hafez al-Assad regime since 1979, before we were even born, designating it a state sponsor of terrorism and so on. And there are sanctions, the most important of which is the Caesar Act, imposed by the US Congress on the regime because it tortured and killed people illegally and committed many violations against the Syrian people. Today that regime is gone, so quite simply, these sanctions must be lifted with the fall of this regime. And if these sanctions remain after the regime has fallen, it will come to the mind of Syrian society and the Syrian people that these sanctions were intended for the people, not the former regime. And I believe that Syria needs a new opportunity for life. President Donald Trump took a brave and bold step by quickly lifting the sanctions, but there are some laws linked to Congress, and it is up to Congress as well to push for improving conditions in Syria, because the Syrian people have suffered a great deal over the past 14 years, and they should not be killed once again through sanctions and things that no longer serve any purpose at this time.
community, Syria, the Mediterranean coast. These have included execution-style killings of civilians. How do you respond to these episodes?
Syria inherited many problems and many disturbances, and there are parties trying to stir up sectarian tensions in order to find a position from which to intervene in Syria's internal affairs. And these parties were harmed by the fall of the former regime, and they were the ones who originally turned Syria into a region of conflicts and disturbances, a mailbox for settling regional accounts. Yes, there were many intercommunal problems in the coast or in Suwayda between Druze and Bedouin, and on the coast as well there were intercommunal problems that came from the remnants of the former regime. There was great chaos; everyone made mistakes, including some elements of the state. Yes, mistakes were made, and we established fact-finding committees. For the first time in Syria's history in 60 years, the United Nations was allowed to send fact-finding committees, and their reports showed that Syria is committed to holding accountable anyone who attacks any civilian in any form. Syria is a state of law; we are trying to build the rule of law in it, and the law gives everyone their rights. We do not favor anyone when we give them their rights; it is a duty of the state to be at an equal distance from everyone through the law and the law alone, not through moods or relationships. We do not look at people through their races, ethnicities, or religions; rather, this citizen has the right to live in Syria under the constitution. Constitutional law must protect rights. The violations that occurred in Suwayda or in the coastal region were evaluated, and a fact-finding committee was formed. The Syrian state is committed to holding accountable everyone who transgressed, from any side, even if they were among the closest people.
These are, of course, by small elements of the US military, which have been with them since the Syrian Democratic Forces. How is this situation?
There is a law we have been working on since we first arrived in Damascus: the regulation of weapons, and that they be in the hands of the state. The monopolization of weapons by the state is what protects Syria from many dangers. You, as a military general and military officer, know that loose weapons lead to many disturbances. Therefore, military and security apparatuses must be centralized, with unified and comprehensive command, clear orders, and subject to the law, because weapons that are not subject to the law will naturally be loose weapons and will bring many harms in the future. So we were keen from the very first moment to monopolize weapons in the hands of the state, through dialogues and discussions, not just the regulation of weapons. Because in Syria there were many factions and groups under the Syrian revolution that had a great deal of weapons, and we were able, through direct dialogues and discussions, to convince them of the necessity of forming a unified army and that these forces merge with the new Syrian army. We offered the same thing to the SDF organization: that its forces merge with the Syrian army, and that there be containment, so that we benefit from the experience it has gained over the past years, and that it also be a strong supporter and ally of the Syrian army. And the region has an Arab majority, if the expression is correct; it has an Arab majority, and it has approximately 70 to 75 percent of this component, and 25 percent of the Kurdish component. In the first moment we sat with Mazloum Abdi, with the SDF organization, we told them that Kurdish rights are guaranteed. If you are fighting for Kurdish rights, there is no need to shed a single drop of blood; all you have to do is merge with the Syrian state, and the Syrian constitution will preserve Kurdish rights, because the Kurds too have been subjected to injustice, as the rest of the Syrian people have been, and we do not want this scene to be repeated under the new state. We want to bring all Syrians together. And we also told them that anyone who was displaced during this war and left their village or region has the right to return guaranteed from now on, without entering into negotiations or bargaining.
There is a slowdown. If we are sincere in implementing this agreement, the mentality of organizations and factions is always not to control all the individuals within them, and they have some ambitions under the banner of decentralization, but what is actually meant by it is partition, and this will expose the region to great dangers and perhaps to a wide war, because any banner of keeping an entity, such as the SDF organization, in northeastern Syria exposes Iraq to dangers, exposes Turkey to dangers as well, and exposes the Syrian state to internal dangers as well. Therefore, peaceful solutions should be reached, but they should be implemented quickly, and we should rely on the document signed on March 10 as the reference for implementing the agreement that has been reached, because it enjoyed popular blessing first, then it enjoyed the blessing of Syria, an agreement between Syria, the United States of America, and Turkey at the same time, and this is a rare case over the past ten years. Therefore, this historic moment should be invested for Syria, then for the SDF organization, which will greatly benefit, and then the Kurdish community as well, which will greatly benefit.
