President of the Syrian Negotiations Commission, Bader Jamous, provided a political overview during a special event on Friday to address the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria. He expressed his concerns about the Assad regime exploiting the disaster to achieve political and financial gains, and blackmail the international community for aid, instead of using it to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people.
Jamous stressed that the tragedy of the Syrian people began more than 11 years ago at the hands of the Assad regime, which killed, arrested, and displaced Syrians, and that the earthquake only added to their suffering.
Jamous emphasized that a political solution is necessary to end the tragedy of the Syrians and to find a mechanism to implement the UN resolutions on Syria. He pointed out that the regime refuses to create a safe and neutral environment for the voluntary return of refugees and displaced persons to their original places of residence. Jamous also discussed the need to release detainees who have been in the regime’s prisons for 12 years, as it is the responsibility of the Syrian people to do everything they can to release them.
Jamous noted that there are attempts to reduce the Syrian crisis to a purely humanitarian issue, which could be exploited for political gains. He expressed fears that the upcoming Brussels conference, which will focus on supporting earthquake victims, could be used to normalize relations with the Assad regime, which would lead to the denial of aid reaching those who deserve it.
Jamous called for the delivery of aid to all Syrians affected by the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, with a monitoring and transparency mechanism to guarantee its arrival to those in need, and the participation of parties representing the Syrian people, from political and executive institutions to civil society organizations.
Jamous stressed the need to seriously and firmly deal with attempts to exploit the earthquake and turn it into a reconstruction conference as the regime uses the same methods it used to lie, deceive and exploit the tragedies of the Syrian people to collect money and blackmail the international community.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
