Takfiri Terrorism Cannot Undermine Syria’s Ancient Civilization: Minister
Damascus (Tasnim) – Syrian Tourism Minister Bishr Riyad Yazigi said Takfiri (extremist) terrorists are not capable of undermining the country’s 7000-year-old civilization, and called for stronger measures by the international community against terrorism.
“A short-lived terrorist force cannot undermine the deeply-rooted history of Syria,” Yazigi told the Tasnim News Agency on the sidelines of a protest rally in Damascus against terrorist crimes in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.
Militants from Daesh (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) terrorist group destroyed the Temple of Baalshamin, one of the largest and best-preserved structures in the ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria, continuing a pattern of destruction that they have visited upon historical sites across the territory they control.
“This Takfiri terrorism cannot undermine 7000 years of Syrian civilization,” Yazigi reiterated, vowing that Syrians will one day renovate the temple and turn it to a tourist spot once again.
He further noted that the verbal condemnation of such attacks is not enough, and urged the closure of all museums in the world in denunciation of the Takfiri crimes against Syria’s ancient relics.
The Syrian minister also lashed out at state sponsors of terrorism and countries that have kept silent on these acts of terrorism damaging the history of mankind.
The temple stood “dozens of meters” away from a Roman amphitheater where Daesh held a mass execution, killing 25 prisoners, in a video released last month, the activist group said. The entire ancient city of Palmyra is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The destruction of the temple is just the latest in a string of horrors that Daesh has inflicted upon Palmyra since seizing the city in May.