Assad says Syria is not ready for federalization

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that it would be impossible to federalize Syria because the country is too small.

“From the geographical perspective, Syria is a very small country for federalization. It is perhaps smaller than most of Russia’s republics," he noted.

"From the sociological perspective, a federation requires that components of the society are present, which may not be able to get along with each other. This has not happened in the history of Syria, but it’s the main principle," the President explained.

"I do not think that Syria is ready for federalization, there are no natural factors for it to be possible," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.

At the same time, Assad stressed that "in the end, as a state, we say that we will agree to everything that the people agree to".