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Huriya!

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Freedom!

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This cry has gone up in streets
and squares all across Syria

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in the past few days.

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And last Sunday it echoed
through many German cities, too,

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as Syrians gathered to celebrate
the end of the bloody Assad regime.

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Freedom? Really freedom?

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That’s what the tens of thousands
of political prisoners who have been

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freed from Assad’s torture chambers
in the past few days must

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have been wondering.

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They had given up any idea of the
prison doors ever opening for them.

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The images are
profoundly affecting.

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Is there anything the Syrian
people didn’t have to suffer?

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Bombs and poison gas,

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imprisonment and torture,

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forced migration
and displacement,

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families torn apart between
those who remained in Syria

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and those who were forced to flee
and succeeded in doing so.

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And now, 

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at last, the hope of freedom –

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 after 54 years of inhumane
dictatorship.

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No doubt each and every
one of us shares this joy.

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But there are also concerns
that the Syrian people’s

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hopes of freedom could
once again be dashed.

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Syria is home to many ethnic 
and religious groups –

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Sunnis and Shiites, Kurds,
Alawites, Druze, Christians

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and others.

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There will only be stability and
security if there is room in

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the new Syria for all
these groups.

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It is also important that Syria
retains its sovereignty

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and territorial integrity
as a state.

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No country is the backyard
of another, stronger one.

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After all the suffering,
all Syrians deserve a life

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in freedom and security.

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Ensuring that they get it

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is the most important task
of the new rulers.

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We will work with them
on that basis.

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Europe, too, will help
with reconstruction.

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The hundreds of thousands of
Syrians living here in Germany

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are also hoping for the recon-
struction of their home country.

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Some of them have been
living here for many years.

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The majority found
refuge in Germany

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after the outbreak of
civil war in their country.

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Many of us helped them
to get settled here:

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in schools and language
institutes, in towns and villages,

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in citizens’ initiatives
and associations.

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We can be proud of this great
achievement by our country.

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Many Syrians have successfully
put down roots here in Germany.

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Some 5000 Syrian doctors are
working in our hospitals alone.

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Some statements made
in recent days

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have deeply unsettled our
fellow citizens of Syrian origin.

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So what I want to
tell you today is this:

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anyone who is working here,
anyone who is well integrated,

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is and will remain welcome
in Germany.

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That goes without saying.

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Some of the refugees hope

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that they will soon be able
to return to their homeland.

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We will support that, too,
as soon as the situation allows.

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Only in the coming days,
weeks and months

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will we see what direction Syria
is taking without Assad.

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For now though, we are working
together with our international

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partners and friends to help
realise the Syrians’ great hope:

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freedom for their
homeland at last.