Coordinator of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) Riad Hijab met with Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria; particularly the situation in Aleppo in light of the continued aerial and artillery bombardments on populated areas.
The meeting also discussed ways to cease hostilities and address grave violations by the Assad regime and its allies against civilians across Syria. Both sides made an evaluation of the future of the political process. Hijab warned of the grave humanitarian situation in Syria, especially in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, where regime forces and their allies have recently escalated bombardment of rebel-held areas.
Hijab criticized the international community’s preoccupation with the international coalition-led campaign against ISIS in eastern Syrian while turning a blind eye to the crimes committed by regime forces in other parts of Syria.
Hijab warned that the latest escalation of airstrikes in Aleppo and Idlib will prompt hundreds of thousands of Syrians to seek refuge in neighboring countries. He stressed the need for adopting a comprehensive initiative during the month of Ramadan that includes stopping all hostilities, lifting the sieges, releasing detainees, and delivering aid to over 1.5 million civilians trapped in various areas across Syria.
Hijab pointed out that time has come to deliver aid by air to besieged areas in light of the intransigence of the Assad regime and its use of systematic starvation of civilians as a weapon of war.
Hijab said that the HNC is currently working on laying out a comprehensive vision for a political solution in Syria and is reaching out to all components of Syria’s society through holding extensive consultations with civil society organizations and media institutions. He added that the HNC is also consulting with Syrian and international think tanks to improve its performance and make use of studies and researches that are expected to help in the decision-making process within the HNC. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
