Syrian opposition talks about future of Russian military bases

Ahmed Al-Asrawi, a member of the executive branch and head of the foreign relations department of the opposition Syrian National Coordination Committee, told RIA Novosti that Syria is not abandoning agreements with Russia for its own benefit. This was his answer to the question of the future of Russian military bases in Syria amid the collapse of the former government.

“We must not contradict all agreements that are beneficial to Syria and continue to be beneficial to Syria, and we must link them to Syria’s interests and its connection to the Arab cause,” Al-Asrawi said.

Mr. Al-Asrawi also stressed that there are forces within the Syrian opposition that do not have hostile views towards Russia and are ready to build relations with any party based on Syria's national interests.

“I will never have hostile views towards Russia or any other country that does not have hostile views towards the Syrian people, their interests and the interests of their homeland,” Al-Asrawi added.

In this regard, the politician noted that his party, the Arab Social Democratic Union, which is part of the unarmed moderate opposition coalition of the Syrian National Coordination Committee, established in 2011, is ready to build relations with all those who work for the benefit of the Syrian people and to restore normalcy in the country; adding that each party that meets these criteria will “play a certain role” in Syria.

The Syrian National Coordination Committee was established amid the outbreak of anti-government protests in the country in 2011 by a number of leftist parties in Syria, including the three main Kurdish parties in the country. The committee - which calls itself an "internal opposition", actively participated in the establishment of the "high-level negotiation committee" at the unity conference in Riyadh in 2015, and participated in the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva.