Syria: Oppn to seek international support to stop violence

Antalya (Turkey), June 4: Members of the Syrian opposition say that they would get in touch with international institutions in order to stop the ongoing bloodshed in Syria.

Following the "Change in Syria Conference" held at Antalya's Falez Hotel, members of the Advisory Committee elected at the conference, Ghassan al-Mufleh, Salim Mounem and Riad Ghannam, held a press conference and read out a document published at the end of the conference.

Reading out the document, Salim Mounem said that the conference was held in order to extend support to the revolution in Syria after the Syrians made protests against the government.

The demands of the Syrian people were brought onto the agenda. We demanded Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign. According to Syrian laws, the vice-president must assume the powers of al-Assad.

Once the vice-president assumes the office, a new parliament must be established within 15 days. Parliamentary elections must take place within a year.

If this basic demand is not met, the revolution will continue until the existing order is demolished, the Antalya document said.

The document emphasised the importance of the "territorial integrity of Syria, objection to military intervention in Syria by foreign countries, continuation of the revolution peacefully and the preservation of elements that form the national unity in Syria".

We want the Arab society, Arab Union, Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the international community to extend support to the Syrian people in order for them to reach their legal demands, the document also said.

Ghassan al-Mufleh thanked the Turkish government and nation for hosting them in Antalya and also thanked the media for making the conference heard in the world.

Asked if the new Syrian state would be secular following the end of the current administration, Riad Ghannam said that there was no contradiction between Islam and democracy.

"We can all be democrats and Muslims," Ghannam underlined.

President al-Assad has done nothing in the past 20 years. He took a decision in the last minute and issued an amnesty for those in prison. While some individuals were taken out of prisons, hundreds of others were placed in such prisons, Ghannam also said.

The Antalya conference in Turkey provided a forum for 80 per cent of the Syrian opposition.

Meanwhile, the election of a nine-member administrative committee by the Advisory Council was postponed to a future meeting.

PTI (Anadolu)