DAMASCUS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Western countries, particularly the United States, have been destabilizing other nations and manipulating public opinion on the pretext of "democracy," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
"The West continues to exploit the notion of promoting and protecting democracy as a tool to subjugate nations and break the will of their people," the ministry stated, singling out Washington's "Janus-faced policy" in silencing voices that support the Palestinian cause while championing the so-called "freedom of expression" and "democracy."
The ministry identified the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an organization primarily funded by the U.S. Congress, as a "front for undermining governments and interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states."
Since its establishment in 1983, the NED has been involved in actions aimed at sowing division, manipulating public opinion, and destabilizing countries under the guise of democracy -- tactics similar to those employed in Syria to weaken states from within, it said.
The organization's "destructive practices" pose a danger to global peace and stability, it added.
The struggle in Syria, a country that has endured years of conflict, has been exacerbated by a "Western-backed campaign to destroy the country in the name of democracy," the ministry concluded. ■
