The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) on Friday held the first consultative meeting at its headquarters in Istanbul under the supervision of the National Dialogue Committee. The meeting brought together about 50 personalities and political activists who discussed the on the ground, political, and humanitarian developments as well as the challenges facing the Syrian revolution.
SOC’s President, Nasr al-Hariri, stressed the importance of the meeting as the first in a series of meetings that are intended to help Syrians think and draw up plans for the future of the Syrian revolution. He said that the ideas and other input that will be put forth will be the focus of attention and activation.
SOC’s Vice-president, Oqab Yahya, said that the meeting is intended to usher in extensive consultations and participation in view of the big challenges that require huge, sincere efforts to build a unified Syria that is free from tyranny and terrorism.
Participants in the meeting stressed the need for more meetings to introduce reform, develop visions, and consolidate the structures of the official institutions of the revolution, especially the SOC as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Moreover, they stressed the need to develop new feasible mechanisms for work that help achieve the desired goals, especially with regard to the work of the Syrian Interim Government in the liberated areas. They also underscored the need to unify the authorities in the freed territories under one umbrella, namely SIG. They also stressed the importance of SIG covering Idlib province.
Participants pointed to the constant need for further consultations and exchange of visions regarding the development of the structures of the institutions of the revolution to enable them to carry out their duties and assume their responsibilities with more efficiency.
SOC’s president commended the ideas and suggestions put forward as he stressed that many of them correspond with the SOC’s vision and plan of action. He said that these ideas will be the subject of study, research and evaluation, adding that the SOC will hold subsequent consultative meetings in preparation for a comprehensive national dialogue process. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)