President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, Salem Al-Meslet, addressed a televised speech to the Syrian people on the occasion of the new year. He wished that this year would bring blessings and relief for Syria and its people, an end to terrorism and tyranny, and a change towards a new Syria that everyone dreams of and in which all Syrians lives in freedom and dignity.
Al-Meslet reaffirmed the SOC’s commitment to the goals of the Syrian Revolution, expressing his pride in the Syrian people who flocked to the freedom squares from the liberated north of Syria to Jassem, Al-Sanamayn and Suwayda in the south. Demonstrators emphasized the spirit of the revolution as they reasserted commitment to its demands, he said, adding that the SOC is committed to the choices of the Syrian people and their demands for freedom and the restoration of their homeland. He stressed that the SOC will not be less patriotic than those who chanted in the squares.
Al-Meslet stressed that the Assad regime is a genocidal regime that has committed thousands of war crimes and massacres against the defenseless Syrian people. He also said that the Assad regime has long lost legitimacy as it has adopted destruction, killing and displacement as an approach. He stressed that the way to salvation and saving the Syrian people is through ridding them of the Assad regime.
Moreover, Al-Meslet pointed out that Türkiye has had a great position with the Syrian people since the start of the Syrian Revolution, as Türkiye hosts millions of refugees and supported the Syrian people and their institutions through thick and thin. He made it clear that Türkiye has as its own security and the security of its people, a duty it has to preserve. He added that at all the meetings with officials in the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the latest of which was with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday, they affirmed their support for the cause of the Syrian people and that Türkiye will not abandon the Syrian people’s demands. They also reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the SOC and its institutions and the political process in accordance with UN Resolution 2254, and that there is no change in Türkiye’s positions as no one spoke of normalization or reconciliation with the Assad regime.
“Sisterly and friendly countries have their positions with the Syrian people and their just cause. We express our gratitude to them as we understand their concerns, and we understand that the ordeal of eleven years is a long ordeal that must end, but we affirm that if in their view it was eleven years, for Syrians every one of these years equal ten harsh years,” Al-Meslet added.
He pointed out that every country has its own right and decision, but at the same time the SOC has its national principles, which were and still are its priorities and compass for its work and the work of every free Syrian. He stressed that this will not change, and the course of the revolution and dignity will not deviate from it, no matter how the circumstances change, whatever the positions are, and whatever the consequences.
Al-Meslet reaffirmed commitment to a political solution as a strategic option, as the SOC engaged in a negotiation process under a legitimate international umbrella and in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, including the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and Resolutions 2118 and 2254, and received support from its allies in this regard. He also indicated that despite the passage of a decade of this commitment to the political process, the course of the political process with the regime has only reached procrastination, intransigence, and lack of seriousness, and this will be the result of the countries’ negotiations with it.
Al-Meslet also stressed that the deceitful Assad regime will not be a source of security and peace for the region, and that a regime that lacks legitimacy has nothing to offer but killing, destruction, displacement, and exporting of terrorism and drugs.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
