MSDThe bilateral parliamentary group in Austria met with the Syrian Democratic Council yesterday, on Thursday, in the Austrian parliament building in the capital, Vienna, and they discussed the political resolution, the reasons for its failure so far, and the conditions of the Syrian diaspora.
The delegation of the parliamentary group included the head of the group, Ms. Kathryn Kocharovitz, who is at the same time from the Socialist Party bloc, Ms. Stephanie Kreisper from the Liberal Party, Mr. Helmut Brandstetter and Mr. Alois Scholl, while the member of the Relations Bureau, Salah Farho, was the representative of the Syrian Democratic Council.
The meeting discussed the political resolution in Syria and the role of the regional actors in deepening the Syrian crisis and doubling the suffering of the Syrian people who demonstrated for change and building a new Syria.
In the meeting, a representative of the SDC presented a briefing on the Syrian issue and the current scene in the country, and he explained to the parliamentary group the reality of the Syrians inside the country, the conditions of refugees in the diaspora, and the need for national resolutions and approaches for the Syrian crisis in accordance with international decisions.
The two sides discussed the political resolution and its paths, where the SDC representative spoke about the Council’s endeavor to reach a final resolution for the tragedy that the Syrian people have been living through for more than a decade, leading to a democratic, pluralistic and decentralized regime of government for all components and spectrums of the Syrian people.
Regarding normalization efforts between “Ankara and Damascus,” Farho clarified the Council’s position by saying “On principle, we are not against good-neighborly relations with Turkey, but these relations must be based on mutual respect between the two parties. We are not concerned with implementing any agreement reached by the Turkish and Syrian regimes, if that happens, in case the aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom and dignity are not taken into account”.
The SDC representative pointed out the Turkish threats and its continuous attacks on the regions of northeastern Syria, the seriousness of any Turkish military action on Syrian territories and its consequences on civil peace and he also talked about efforts to combat terrorism and fight ISIS.
The meeting also dealt with the situation of the Syrian community in Austria and the position of the Austrian government, in addition to developments in Europe in general.
It is worth noting that this is the first time that the bilateral parliamentary group has met in Austria with a Syrian party since the start of the Syrian crisis.
