President Khoja stresses that the recent rebel gains, most notably the liberation of Jisr al-Shugour, the Qarmid base, easing the siege on Aleppo and the advances in the south, impose a new political equation.
He also said that that the Geneva II communique, which was internationally ratified, cannot be waived, and will be a springboard to other political steps or another declaration.
Khoja pointed to the existence of continued firm supportive form the Gulf countries to the Syrian people and the Syrian Coalition, noting that the recent Saudi – Turkish rapprochement has given a new boost to the revolution and clearly denotes that a new axis is being formed and that the Assad regime will not have any role to play in Syria’s future.
Moreover, he said that the dynamics on the ground are accelerating beyond the ability of the supporting countries to keep up with, adding that we may see an abrupt and quick downfall of the Assad regime.
Khoja welcomes Riyadh’s intention to host a conference on Syria as Saudi Arabia is the primary supporter of the Syrian Coalition and they both are on the same page concerning a solution to the conflict.
With regards to the Geneva consultation meetings to be held in the period between 4th and 15th of May, Khoja said that the primary goal of meeting is to formulate a common position by the Syrian opposition on the transitional period. “The Syrian Coalition has clearly outlined its position since the beginning, and have had consultations with other opposition blocs including the National Coordination Commission and Building the Syrian State Movement and have jointly laid out our political vision in 14-item document.”
Khoja concluded his remarks stressing that “our position on a political solution has been specified in the above-mentioned document and also in the documents laid out by the Syrian National Council. The political ceiling of the Syrian Coalition is very clear: We flatly refuse allowing Bashar al-Assad and his security elite to have any role to play in the transitional phase.” (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Hayat newspaper)
