The Executive Head of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Ilham Ehmed, denied that there were currently any ongoing negotiations with the Syrian regime in response to media reports about news that dialogue had resumed between the SDC and the regime.
Ehmed told Ana Press: “We in the Syrian Democratic Council are adhering to our positions in support of any dialogue which ends the Syrian crisis, relieves the suffering of our people, and arrives at a national agreement that brings together all the country’s people through political solutions.”
The Executive Head of the SDC blamed the Assad regime for the talks stumbling, which has brought the negotiations to a dead end. She added that: “Therefore we announced that what has been reported in the media about negotiations with the regime is untrue.”
In August, a delegation from the SDC held two rounds of talks in Damascus after receiving an official invitation from the Syrian regime.
The first meeting between the two sides resulted in the forming of councils at various levels to develop dialogue and discussions to put an end to the violence and war and to draw up a roadmap to lead to a democratic, decentralized Syria, according to the co-head of the SDC, Riad Darar.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has expressed concern about the situation east of the Euphrates, saying: “The United States is operating in this area in cooperation with allied Kurds and is setting up a special administration contrary to the Syrian constitution and leading to outcomes that are not positive,” according to the Russian Sputnik agency.
In response, the SDC spokesman, Amjad Othman, rejected Zakharova’s comments, asking if she was referring to the current constitution, “which has failed to address the material issues in Syria and which contributed to a large extent to the appearance of the crisis, or if she means the expected constitution, which Moscow is working to draft with the United Nations through a constitutional council which has not yet been formed,” according to the Hayat newspaper.
According to the same newspaper quoting Othman, SDC representatives went to Damascus and started discussion on the content of the constitution, with the Syrian government and the need to amend it in accordance with the SDC’s national orientations.
Othman said that “the real danger comes from the objections to our participation in Geneva and keeping out representatives from the formation of the constitutional council, which is in radical contradiction to the concerns for the future of Syria and its people.”
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
