A delegation of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) met with the Estonian mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The two sides discussed the developments in the political process in Syria and the Assad regime’s obstructionism.
The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Estonia mission to the United Nations. It brought together SOC’s President Salem al-Meslet, President of the Syrian Negotiations Commission Anas Abdah, SOC’s Vice-president Abdul Hakim Bashar, and the SOC’s representative in Washington Qutaiba Idilbi.
The Estonian side included Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets, Director of Political Affairs at the Estonian Foreign Ministry and the Estonian Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations.
Al-Meslet thanked the Republic of Estonia for its important political and humanitarian support for the Syrian people at the Security Council. He spoke about the developments on the ground in Syria, especially the Assad regime and its backers’ continued war crimes against civilians.
Abdah spoke about Estonia’s efforts to pass the UN resolution on the cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria. He stressed the importance of establishing new mechanisms and finding new solutions for the establishment of an independent international mechanism for disclosing the fate of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons.
Abdah stressed that the Syrian Negotiations Commission prioritizes achieving justice in Syria and implementing UN Security Council resolutions, most importantly the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Resolutions 2118 and 2254. He called on Estonia to support the British-Dutch initiative to establish a special tribunal for war crimes in Syria.
Bashar also spoke about the situation on the ground, especially the mass forced displacement of the Kurds due to the practices of the PYD militia, stressing the importance of supporting the demands of the Syrian people and empowering women.
For her part, the Estonian Foreign Minister expressed her country’s support for the Syrian people, stressing that any bet on Assad will be lost. She expressed her concern for the plight of Syria’s children and their ongoing suffering, stressing that her country cares about the situation of the displaced people and supporting them to live a safe and dignified life.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
