Secretary General the Syrian Coalition Mohammed Yahya Maktabi denounced the contract signed between the Assad regime and Russia, describing it as handover of the country to Russia, which is an occupying power.
Maktabi added that “the Assad regime is ineligible to sign contracts or agreements because it has long lost legitimacy to rule; it has relinquished the country to foreign occupying forces.”
“The Assad regime today is but a gang of criminals and terrorists who have been killing the Syrian people for nearly five years with the help of other criminals and terrorists such as Iran and its sectarian militias, Hezbollah terrorist militias and recently Russia,” Maktabi added.
A document posted this week on a Russian government website detailed the terms of its aerial support for the Assad regime.
Among other revelations in the seven-page contract dated Aug. 26, 2015, the Kremlin has made an open-ended time commitment to its military deployment in Syria, where either side can terminate it with a year’s notice.
Russian military personnel and shipments can pass in and out of Syria at will and aren’t subject to controls by Syrian authorities, the contract said. Syrians could not enter Russian bases without Russia’s permission. And Russia disclaims any responsibility for “damage” caused by its activities inside Syria.
Member of the political committee Khatib Badla said that “this agreement does not give legitimacy for Russia’s military intervention in Syria, which we consider an act of aggression and a blatant occupation. Therefore, Russia cannot be considered a mediator in any political solution but is an adverse party to the Syrian people and their revolution.”
Badla stressed that “Russia now is an occupation force involved in war crimes against unarmed people as most of its airstrikes target residential neighborhoods, schools, bakeries, and houses of worship. The overwhelming majority of the victims of these airstrikes are unarmed civilians. The Syrian people do not have a choice but to continue with their revolution till all of Syria is liberated from of all forms of occupation, tyranny and terrorism.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
