Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Muallem said Sunday that the international conference on Syria, scheduled to be held in Geneva next June, presents a favorable opportunity to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
"Since the start of the crisis in Syria, we believed that dialogue among the Syrian people is the only solution to this crisis," Muallem told reporters in a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari in Baghdad.
"No one and no force in the world can make decisions on behalf of the Syrian people. Syrians alone have the right to do that," Moallem said.
"The Syrian government believes in all good faith that the international conference presents a favorable opportunity for a political solution to the crisis in Syria," he added.
Zebari emphasized that violence will not solve the problem in Syria, saying: "It is essential to adopt political solutions that are to be agreed upon first and foremost by the Syrian people themselves, without being dictated or imposed under any will or custodianship, to form the political system they choose."
He said communications are underway between Syria and Iraq "in the interest of the two peoples and the security and safety of both countries," reiterating that Syria and Iraq will continue consultation "to face any dangers that could confront them."
Syria and Iraq, Zabari said, "are neighboring states and intertwined peoples; whatever happens in either country affects the other, and none of them can distance or isolate itself from the other."
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