On Wednesday, Salem al-Meslet, head of the opposition National Coalition, held a press conference at the coalition’s headquarters in Istanbul. The conference was attended by a group of journalists from various Syrian, Arab, and Turkish media outlets. The aim of the conference was for the coalition to communicate and share with these media outlets the results of the political tours carried out by the coalition delegation and the negotiating body. During these tours, he met with various officials and politicians in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, followed by the meetings he held in Ankara. Salem al-Meslet revealed that the U.S. is not willing to normalize with the Assad regime and is maintaining its solid position by proceeding with sanctions.
“The opposition hasn’t requested meetings with the regime, and it is not ethical to meet with the regime after the crimes and violations it has committed. We, in the Syrian Coalition, have chosen the political path and instead went to the negotiations in Geneva through the international mediator and the legitimacy of the United Nations,” the head of the coalition said.
“During our meetings with officials in Washington, we witnessed the Republicans’ dissatisfaction with the performance of the Democratic administration. The administration, however, remains committed to the policy of sanctions against the Syrian regime,” Meslet said.
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“All Syrian delegations in the United States were not official and no Syrian delegation was officially invited, with assistance and facilitation from several quarters of the delegations,” he explained.
He pointed out that the U.S. refuses Russia to be a substitute for its presence in eastern Syria. Therefore, he stressed the need for U.S.-Turkish coordination regarding Syria.
“We have requested that the United States be at a close distance from the components of eastern Syria, through Turkish-U.S. coordination,” he said.
“We did not receive an answer from officials in the U.S. administration about our insistence on the necessity of U.S.-Turkish coordination to resolve the Syrian crisis. We know that this requires continuous efforts from us in the Syrian opposition,” he noted.
“International attention to Syrian affairs is no longer the same as before, but our visits have been important and contributed to determining the new round of the Constitutional Committee,” he added.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
