UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Turning the page on decades of distance, Syria’s president addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, marking the first time any president from his country has done so in almost 60 years. As he spoke, hundreds of people gathered in front of giant screens in Syrian cities and towns to witness the speech while waving the country’s flags.
After six decades of dictatorship that killed 1 million people and tortured hundreds of thousands, “Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world,” Ahmad al-Sharaa told the international community.
Al-Sharaa became the first Syrian head of state to speak at the United Nations since Noureddine Attasi gave a speech in 1967 shortly after the Arab-Israeli war, during which Damascus lost control of the Golan Heights. Israel annexed it in 1981.
Since the Assad family came to power in Syria in 1970 in a bloodless coup that overthrew Attasi, relations with the United States have been mostly cold, as Damascus was an ally of the former Soviet Union. Over the past decades, Syrian foreign ministers represented the country at the U.N. General Assembly.
An appearance after the collapse of the Assad family’s regime