The Ambassador arrived to Kazan University on December 12th.

His primary goal was to inform the students about the war with terrorism in Syria and the measures necessary to achieve peace. The Syrian crisis has been ongoing for six years and turned into a full-blown war with multiple factions.

The atmosphere of the meeting was warm and the dialog – open. It was prefaced with a Syrian folk song about peace and mutual understanding. Several students and postgraduates gave speeches, among them Syrians and others from Arabic-speaking countries. There are currently about 40 Syrian nationals engaged in undergraduate, postgraduate or pre-university programs. The Syrian embassy in Russia is very active in academic exchange matters.

Mr. Haddad said, «We are here to explain to Russian students what's going on in Syria, that it’s a terrorist war imposed on Syrian people. Russian youth must know that our people have been fighting this terrorism for five years thanks to the wise policies of our President Bashar al-Assad, our brave army, and, of course, our friends from the Russian Federation. Russia has since day one realized what’s really happening in political and military spheres and has supported our nation during this hard time».

Executive Director of the Center of Arabic Culture of KFU Mohammed al-Ammari added to this, “Syria is in the hearts of all people who like peace and oppose war. What happens there is a pain for everyone. We are not only saying warm words today – our hearts are really with Syrian people, and we will support them until they are victorious”.

During this visit Ambassador Haddad will also conduct meetings with government officials and clerics of the Republic of Tatarstan.