Statement on the 30th Syrian Coalition’s General Assembly Meeting In Memory of Late Yakoub Ammar

Press Release Original in arabic

Political Committee

Syrian Coalition

October 6, 2016

The Syrian Coalition’s General Assembly held its 30th meeting between October 1-3, 2016 at the Coalition’s headquarters in Istanbul. The meeting was held amid difficult conditions and serious challenges facing the Syrian revolution as well as the increasing suffering of the Syrian people as a result of the continuing murderous policies pursued by the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies as well as other allied foreign militias.

The 30th General Assembly meeting was also held amid declining regional and international efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict and put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people by bringing about a political transition from the authoritarian, brutal regime to a new political system that meets the Syrian people’s aspirations for freedom, justice and equality.

Taking into consideration all those circumstances, the General Assembly placed improvement of the Coalition’s performance on top of the agenda of the meeting. For this purpose, a three-point plan was drawn out: i) to work on developing the Coalition’s political program to meet the future challenges facing the revolution, ii) to reach out to the various national political, civil, and military opposition forces and figures; iii) to seek to revive international and regional efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict and mobilize more support for the revolution.

The General Assembly called on the Coalition’s leadership to take all necessary measures to boost the Coalition’s national political narrative, especially when laying out a political program for the next stage.

The General Assembly discussed the difficulties and challenges facing the Syrian interim government where its head Jawad Abu Hatab was present. The Assembly reaffirmed continued support for the interim government’s efforts to provide services to the Syrian people.

Tabled for discussions in the meeting were plans to develop the Coalition’s performance, including plans to expand the representation of women and the Turkman ethnic group in the Coalition. A decision was made to extend the term of members of the political committee from six months to one year as of the next election.

The General Assembly stressed the importance of the leading role of the Coalition in the next phase in view of its efforts to promote dialogue among opposition figures, groups, civil society organizations as well as the FSA and mainstream rebel groups.

The General Assembly and the political committee, out of their realization of the responsibilities and the future challenges, reaffirmed the Syrian Coalition will remain faithful to the goals of the revolution, the blood of the fallen heroes, and the sacrifices the Syrian people have made to build a democratic, pluralistic state in which the rights of all Syrians to freedom, justice, and equality are guaranteed.