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President of the seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly, I would liketo congratulate you on yourelection as president of the current session of the General Assembly and wish you all success. I would also like to thank yourpredecessor for his important role at the helm of the General Assembly during the previous session. I congratulate Mr. Antonio Guterres on his appointment as Secretary-General of the United Nations and wish him the best in carrying out his responsibilities in service of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. Ladies and gentlemen, As we meet again, our world is facing mounting challenges and dangers on a daily basis, and a persistent standoffbetween two sets of forces: forces that seek to control and dominate nations and their riches, by turning back the clock, re-establishing a unipolar worldorder, fueling chaos and war, and violating international and humanitarian laws; and opposite forces that work tirelessly to create a more balanced, secure, and just world, one that respects the sovereignty of states and the right of peoplesto exercise self-determination and build theirown future. As we meet again, many people continue to pay dearly and sacrifice their lives, security, stability and livelihood, as a result of the policies of certain countries. Those countries falsely believe that they coulduse terrorism as a tool to satisfy their greedand further their ill-conceived agendas, which do not serve the interests of any people, not even their own. No people has suffered at the hands of terrorism more than the Syrian people, who, for six years now, has fought against terrorists pouring from all over the world, supported by parties from the region and beyond