At the invitation of Director of Middle East and North Africa of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr. Tobias Tunkel, President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) Salem al-Meslet, and President of the Syrian Negotiations Commission Badr Jamous, visited the German Consulate in Istanbul.
The visitors also included SOC’s Secretary-General Haytham Rahmeh, and SOC’s Vice President Abdulahad Astepho.
Al-Meslet spoke about the latest field and political developments in Syria, especially the political process. He said that the process is stalled due to the refusal of the Assad regime and its backers to engage in any political process that would lead to a real political solution in accordance with the relevant international resolutions, especially the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Resolutions 2118 and 2254.
Al-Meslet praised Germany’s positive role in the political process, stressing the need for maintaining the sanctions imposed on the regime and the refusal to normalize relations with it.
Meanwhile, Jamous spoke about the need to achieve a political transition in Syria as the essence of the political process, stressing the need to push this process forward in a way that ensures freedom and dignity for the Syrian people.
For his part, Rahmeh stressed that in the eight sessions of the Constitutional Committee, the Assad regime made it clear that it is not serious in implementing UN Resolution 2254, and that it does not want a political solution. He stressed that despite its inability to achieve military solution, it chose to handed over the country to Russia and Iran, thus losing all legitimacy and sovereignty.
Astepho stressed that the ongoing disruption of the political process is due to the Assad regime’s intransigence and its refusal to honor its international obligations.
The discussions focused on the situation in the liberated areas, and the need to empower the Syrian Interim Government to manage these areas and improve basic services and the living conditions.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
