He noted that he would grant his support to the contentious White Helmets if he distinctly saw that the organization was indeed involved in helping those who had suffered in the Syrian conflict, adding, however, that “all the evidence points to the fact that that is not the reality.”
Before going on to address online censorship and other critical tech issues, he referred to the widely debated Oscar-winning documentary with the same name as the Syrian group, sarcastically remarking: “Have you ever seen anything so obviously scripted and carefully shot?”
The White Helmets is a Syrian humanitarian organization that claims to have saved tens of thousands of lives. Both Moscow and Damascus have stated that the White Helmets are linked to terrorists and extremists, and among other things helped to stage a chemical attack in the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma on April 7, prompting a number of western countries to respond with reciprocal missile launches. Meanwhile, the White Helmets' head, Raed Saleh, said earlier in August that the White Helmets, however, had no ties to any terror organization.
READ MORE: UN Supports Disinformation Campaign About White Helmets — Foreign Ministry
