President Khoja stresses that “toppling the Assad regime does not mean toppling state institutions, but getting rid of a gang of war criminals who monopolize power,” pointing out that we “can agree with other components of the regime within the framework of the Geneva II declaration to initiate a transitional period until the formation of the first constituent parliament.”
Khoja rejects calls for the establishment of a new entity of the Syrian opposition, stressing that that the ethnic, sectarian, religious and political diversity that characterizes the Syrian Coalition does not exist in any other opposition bloc, pointing out that any intra-opposition dialogue is doomed to fail if it does not include the Syrian Coalition.
Moreover, president Khoja said that the Syrian Coalition is open to all other opposition forces, stressing it is ready to meet with them on common ground and to agree on common framework and principles that could set off a new negotiation round with the Assad regime from where the Geneva II conference ended.
He also notes that the Free Syrian Army does not fight the Assad regime only, but also the Iranian regime, pointing out that Assad is just an Iranian puppet who serves its interests. He added that the time would come when Iran will eventually abandon Assad just as it did with A-Maliki in Iraq.”
He points out that all opposition blocs (the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG)) oppose the division of Syria, adding that the Syrian Coalition is challenged with the need to change its discourse to reassure the minorities.”
“We must also convince the regional and the international system that the success of the revolution will result in stabilizing the region, that we are able to efficiently govern the liberated areas, and that the FSA can be restructured according to military regulations. This can be achieved after we reform the Syrian Coalition’s institutions and after we overcome the many obstacles that face us, most notably maintaining the cohesion of the opposition and reclaim it through reaching out to the revolution’s social base,” Khoja added.
He concluded his remarks pointing out that “the first half of this month will see the birth of new structure for the Syrian Coalition composed mainly of professional specialists. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Sharq al-Awsat)
