Photograph by Garry Knight
The political opposition in Syria, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), confirmed that they will be attending January’s peace talks in Geneva.
Meeting them in Istanbul this week the organisation is not talking of peace just yet. They doubt that Assad is coming to Geneva to compromise for peace, his attendance is simply to satisfy the international community.
“We are not optimistic because of three main points which we are hearing again and again. Number one; Bashar al-Assad has said that he is not going to go to Geneva to concede power. Number 2, he wants the conference to be held under his leadership and third, that any agreement has to be agreed upon by Bashar himself.”
These statements show how little Assad is prepared to recognise the SNC as a legitimate political force in Syria.
Although the SNC remain committed to finding a peaceful solution to the civil war, which is in its 33rd month now, “the talks aren’t the key”. The key is the international pressure on Assad to allow humanitarian agencies into the country. They hope that firstly, Assad will be forced to let humanitarian agencies into the country, to offer relief to some of the suffering. Secondly the SNC want Assad to release the 150,000 Syrians who have been imprisoned since the start of the conflict.
“We know that 4,000 of these are women and over 10,000 are children.”
The long term aims of the SNC remains the same:
“we want the rule of law, and freedom of speech, and democracy and we want Bashar and his gang to leave the country.”
However, to achieve these aims they need more than the empty pledges of the international community.
“In terms of support, Assad has a disproportionate level of support from Iran and Russia. We wouldn’t be speaking right now if it wasn’t for their support. We get $100m from our friends, but it is a tiny drop in the ocean when you look at the $6bn Assad gets from Iran.”
Right now the SNC say they are in conversation with the opposition forces on the ground.
“We meet regularly, here in Istanbul and in Syria but it is difficult to talk about compromises because we depend on the action of the international community, they need to fulfill the promises they make. So far more has been pledged in words, not actions.”
In the meantime, the SNC will carry on their fight against what they are increasingly seeing as a war for independence.
“We have so many foreign extremists fighting in Syria now. There are Iraqis, Lebanese and Afghan fighters.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is making big advances and popular support for Assad is falling. He is relying on more extreme groups who are becoming increasingly unsatisfied. And they are making the conflict more sectarian. The Syrian people don’t want this.”
