Source : Voice of Russia
Friends of Syria to meet late November NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has assured Turkey that the alliance will defend them against possible attacks from across the Syrian border and welcomed the decision of the Syrian opposition to form a new coalition.
“NATO as an organization will do what it takes to protect and defend Turkey, our ally. We have more plans in place to make sure that we can protect and defend Turkey and hopefully that way also deter so that attacks on Turkey will not take place,” Rasmussen said at a meeting in Prague on Monday.
Rasmussen has not commented on Turkey’s request about possible deployment of Patriot surface-to-air missiles, though.
The NATO chief also said the Syrian opposition’s decision to form a new coalition agreed at the weekend in Doha was “at least one big step forward”.
“A split opposition is of course a problem so we need a more inclusive and more united opposition,” he said.
Friends of Syria to meet late November
A new Friends of Syria meeting is set for the end of November in Morocco. High atop its agenda will be possible recognition of the newly formed Syrian National Coalition, an umbrella organization uniting the country’s opposition, its head Mahmoud al-Hamza said.
He also said he as positive about the Coalition’s chances to be recognized by the Arab League, where Syrian opposition may receive a member status equal to Persian Gulf countries.
Mr. Hamza reminded that a special meeting of AL’s Syria Committee will consider the National Coalition bid on Monday.
Russia says Syrian opposition should seek dialogue
Russia said a new Syrian opposition coalition, formed at the weekend to oust President Bashar al-Assad, should seek an end to the Syrian crisis through negotiation and reject outside interference.
The Foreign Ministry said Russia's "main criterion ... remains the readiness of such alliances to act on the platform of a peaceful resolution of the conflict by Syrians themselves, without external interference, through dialogue and negotiations."
Moscow hopes that Syrian opposition’s new National Coalition will take upon itself the task of reaching a peace settlement within the country, Russia’s foreign office spokesman Alexander Lukashevich has said.
“Moscow is closely watching the efforts to unite the Syrian opposition movement. We believe – and we’ve said this multiple times – that the ultimate criterion here is that such alliances were ready to settle the conflict peacefully and with the help of the Syrian people, without any foreign involvement, through dialogue and negotiations,” he said.
Mr. Lukashevich stressed that Moscow was working with both the Syrian regime and the entire “opposition spectrum” to abide by the agreements as stated in the Geneva communiqué.
