Press Statement
Syrian Coalition
Istanbul, Turkey
October 10, 2013
Today, the Syrian Coalition transmitted a letter to all 193 members of the United Nations to coincide with the UN Security Council’s consultations on Syria. It urged all members of the international community to build on the momentum provided by the adoption of the latest Security Council resolution to disarm Syria’s chemical weapons programme and intensify efforts to stop the conflict in Syria.
The chemical weapons attacks on August 21st have reinforced the urgent need for all members of the UN to show their support for UN-led efforts to comprehensively disarm the Assad regime’s chemical weapons program. At the same time, the Coalition stresses the importance of remaining focused on taking all necessary measures to stop the regime’s ongoing and excessive use of conventional force and inflicting extreme suffering on the Syrian people.
As a first step, even more political pressure must be placed on the regime to stop preventing the delivery of necessary humanitarian relief to millions of Syrians in need.
“For the past two and a half years, the Syrian regime has perpetrated a systematic campaign of violence against the people of Syria,” wrote Dr. Ghadbian, Special Representative of the Syrian Coalition to the UN. “Despite the ongoing efforts of UN agencies and humanitarian aid organizations to deliver such assistance, the Syrian regime continues to obstruct the delivery of aid and prevent urgently needed access to cities and towns across the country, in direct violation of international humanitarian law.”
The Syrian Coalition therefore calls on the international community to ensure that the Security Council’s Presidential Statement on October 2, 2013 is fully respected. Furthermore, the Coalition notes that increased pressure is needed to make the regime accept the need for and agree to a political transition if a political solution to the conflict is to be reached, and the growing threat of extremism to be neutralized.
“Each day that the war in Syria is allowed to continue, [Syrians’] disillusionment grows, as does their frustration with the international community’s perceived indifference,” wrote Dr. Najib Ghadbian, Special Representative of the Syrian Coalition to the United Nations, in the letter to UN members. “With despair comes extremism and radicalization, which threaten not only the future of our country, but the stability of the region.”
The Syrian Coalition unconditionally rejects the presence of extremist actors in Syria, including the majority composed of Hezbollah, Iranian revolutionary Guards, and all other terrorist organizations. As the conflict continues “our task of rebuilding a stable Syria with intact, democratic institutions becomes more difficult the longer the world fails to act to end this war.”
The Syrian Coalition therefore calls on the collective UN membership to build on the impetus provided by the Security Council’s recent endorsement of the Geneva Communiqué, as stipulated in UNSCR 2118, and make it explicitly clear that any future peace conference must have one clear and concrete goal: the creation of a transitional government.
We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.
Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.
