On November 16 1970, there was a corrective movement in Syria.

Although Syria achieved independence after having been trampled under the domination and control of the colonialists for a long period, its situation was very complicated and unstable due to interference by the imperialists. Under such situation, the progressive forces centring on the Arab Baath Socialist Party carried out the corrective movement on November 16 1970.

The movement marked an epochal turn in the struggle of the Syrian people for building an independent and prosperous new society.

Since then the Syrians have made positive endeavours to defend their national sovereignty, achieve territorial integrity and build new society.

The imperialists have made persistent moves even in recent years to drive the country into the vortex of terrorism and dispute while intensifying sanctions as part of their manoeuvres to realize their ambition for domination over the Middle East.

The US and its servile follower Israel have destroyed its urban and rural areas through indiscriminate military attacks on the country and killed many civilians, while applying sanctions against it to undermine its stability and arrest its development. The American troops illegally stationed in the country do not hesitate to systematically plunder its natural resources including oil.

The Syrian government and people have taken drastic measures against the ever-undisguised moves of the US and its following forces as they advance along the road of independence against imperialism. They are trying hard to boost their military capabilities to thwart the military threats and schemes Israel is intensifying in the Middle East.

Syria has also taken positive measures to stabilize the people’s livelihood and put the economy on a normal track. To solve the power shortage, it has channelled efforts into the creation of generating capacity based on renewables. Its government worked out a strategy for sharply increasing power production capacity relying on solar heat and wind power by 2030 and is going to allocate the sites of power stations in and around the deserts.

Externally, Syria promotes cooperation with the countries aspiring to independence against imperialism, while strongly opposing the manoeuvres of hegemony-seeking forces.

Last May it signed an MOU with Iraq on cooperation in the fields of security including anti-terror, combat against drug trafficking and organized crimes and border control. In late October its minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates held talks with the Belarus Foreign Minister in Minsk to denounce the West’s interference and illegal sanctions moves and agreed to develop cooperation between the two countries to cope with the moves.

The DPRK people extend full support and solidarity to the struggle of the Syrian government and people for territorial integrity and social progress.