President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Nasr Al-Hariri, met Germany’s ambassador to Ankara, Jürgen Schulz, and his accompanying team and discussed with him the latest developments on the ground in Syria and in the political process.
The meeting brought together SOC’s Vice-president Abdelhakim Bashar and Ruba Habboush, Secretary General Abdelbaset Abdullatif, Coordinator of the Department of Foreign Relations Abdulahad Asteipho, and Secretary of the political committee Riyad Al-Hassan.
Al-Hariri gave an overview on the humanitarian situation in northwestern Syria, especially the tragic conditions due to the harsh weather conditions and the coronavirus pandemic.
Al-Hariri also talked about the situation in Idlib, noting that it is a large region with complicated conditions, stressing that civilians there reject terrorism.
He added that nearly five million citizens live in northwestern Syria who suffer severe shortages of basic necessities of life, indicating that the Syrian Interim Government is working to establish institutions that work to meet people’s needs in the areas of health, education and security.
Moreover, Al-Hariri stressed that the SOC is sparing no effort to help SIG translate its programs into reality. “It is difficult to manage the region without the support and assistance of the international community, especially in light of the presence of terrorist sleeper cells and the Russian support for the regime.”
He stressed that “we will not accept any terrorist organization or foreign militant on Syrian territory. All those who commit crimes against the Syrian people must be held accountable.”
Al-Hariri also talked about the economic conditions in the regime-held areas, “which reflect the failure of the regime and its rampant corruption.”
Furthermore, Al-Hariri touched on the developments in the political process. He said that the latest session of the Constitutional Committee ended without progress, adding that the delegation of the Syrian Negotiations Commission was ready to work and discuss the constitutional provisions. He said that the Assad regime’s delegation, as usual, resorted to obstructing and preventing any progress in this session.
He indicated that there should be a clear agenda for work for the Constitutional Committee, adding that all of this was rejected by Russia.
He pointed out that Russia is still the main backer of the Assad regime which seeks to hold illegal elections in the coming months in light of the inability of the United Nations to prevent this from taking place or to reach a political solution in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN resolutions, especially UN resolutions 2118 and 2254.
Al-Hariri stressed that the only solution in the country is a political solution, adding that the Assad regime still rejects political solution encouraged by Russia and Iran.
He called on the international community to impose a political solution on the regime, stressing that the efforts of the international community must unite in order to push for a political solution.
For his part, the German ambassador reaffirmed his country’s continued support for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the liberated areas. He pointed to the importance of increasing the number of crossings through which aid enters or looking for alternatives.
He also stressed that the Assad regime lost its legitimacy ten years ago, adding that there will be no legitimacy for the elections that it is preparing to hold. He pointed out that Al-Assad’s obstruction of the political process has prevented any progress in it, so work must be done on other components of UN Resolution 2254, especially the issues of detainees and missing persons. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
