ON Staffan de Mistura’s briefing to the UN Security Council

Press release "Original in Arabic"

Syrian Coalition

General Assembly

August 1, 2015

As a follow-up to the efforts of the United Nations and its special Envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and the latest briefing he submitted to the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria, the Syrian Coalition reaffirms the following:

We stress the importance of the UN envoy’s commitment to the Geneva Communique and the need to irreversible and credible political transition. We also stress that Syria is “an independent unified sovereign state,” the need to establish a democracy based on political pluralism and peaceful transfer of power, and to ensure the rights of all Syrians based on equal citizenship.

The formation of the transitional governing body with full powers in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution 2118 and its annex II is a prerequisite for the success of the political process under the auspices of the United Nations. Ensuring Syrian consensus on the implementation of the Geneva Communique requires achieving an international consensus, especially among the sponsors of the Geneva Communique.

The Syrian Coalition, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to a political solution, the Geneva Communique, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and also its willingness to engage in real political transition process in Syria. However, the Assad regime’s rejection of the previous points has hampered the UN efforts on the political and humanitarian levels, a fact that the UN special envoy ignored and even equated between the parties when he said both of them still pursue a military solution. This applies exclusively to the regime, which continues to wage a brutal war on the Syrian people.

The call for simultaneous and paralleled talks must be based on the Geneva II conference as a reference and on the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and must include representatives of the revolutionary forces and the opposition. They must be aimed at pushing for the implementation of the Geneva Communique with all its provisions, most importantly the formation of a transitional governing body with full powers as the main tool for its implementation.

The establishment of a new political system in Syria forms the basis for the fight against all forms of terrorism, which is sponsored and produced by the current regime. In this context, the Syrian Coalition renews its firm commitment to counter terror acts regardless of the side involved in them and also to the provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions 2170 and 2178.

The failure of the international community and the UN Security Council to provide the necessary protection of civilians is seen by the Syrian Coalition as a major cause for the war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the regime the sectarian foreign militias for the fifth consecutive year.

The Syrian Coalition renews its commitment to continue with the dialogue with all political and revolutionary forces to reach a common vision that paves the way for the resumption of the political process under the auspices of the United Nations and that achieves the aspirations of all Syrians in freedom, justice and national dignity.