President of the Syrian Coalition Riad Seif met with Netherlands Special Envoy for Syria Gerard Steeghs and political advisor Renko Verheij to discuss the latest political and field developments in Syria in Istanbul on Monday.
Seif said that despite the scarcity of resources, the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) succeeded to achieve several successes with regards to the provision of essential service to the population in the liberated areas. He called upon the Netherlands to support SIG projects in view of the systematic destruction of vital civilian infrastructure by the Assad regime.
“We look forward to the support of the Dutch government for projects in the liberated areas aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people,” Seif told his guests.
With regards to the Astana meetings, Seif stressed the Coalition’s rejection of giving Iran any role in the agreements reached during the meetings in the Kazakh capital. He emphasized that the Astana track cannot replace the Geneva process.
“We are concerned that the latest agreement in Astana is designed to establish separated cantons paving the way for the division of Syria,” Seif said.
The meeting was attended by members of the Coalition’s political committee Ahmed Sayed Yusuf and Yasser Farhan. The meeting focused on the need to step up services to the population in the liberated areas as participants stressed the need to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and restore security and stability. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
