Ahmadinejad: Free Elections Only Way to Settle Syrian Crisis

"Insistence of the influential states of the region, including Iran and Turkey, on the holding of free elections in Syria is the only solution to the Syrian issue," Ahmadinejad said during the meeting on the sidelines of the 12th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.

He stressed that a ceasefire between the governmental forces and the opposition groups should precede such an election so that the vote can help restore the right of the Syrian people.

"All sides should become loyal to the rights of the Syrian people; this, of course, might be the hard way, but there is no other solution but this," he added.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria once again.

The US and its western and regional allies have long sought to topple Bashar al-Assad and his ruling system. Media reports said that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.
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