The Letter sent by Moscow Platform to the Presidents of the Guarantor States of Astana

Herein, we publish the text of this letter that was sent to each of the three presidents: the Russian Vladimir Putin; the Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; and the Iranian Hassan Rouhani.

Allow me first to convey to you the best regards of the leadership of Moscow Platform of the Syrian Opposition, which is recognized in the UNSCR 2254, on the solution of the Syrian crisis.

As we, in Moscow Platform, highly appreciate the great efforts paid by the guarantor states of Astana process within the framework of resolving the Syrian crisis, seeing it as a process that creates a space of hope for Syria's exit out of the crisis as a united, sovereign and independent country, we would like to share with you, at the same time, our concerns that the delay in launching the political solution in Syria is narrowing this same space itself.

The deep economic and living crises inside Syria are increasing, and they are further worsening and deepening Syrians' suffering and tragedy, inside and outside their homeland, particularly for scores of displaced persons and refugees, who are currently under looming threats, due to the approaching winter, with all its coldness, harshness and bad weather.

Mr. President,

We are deeply convinced that the first access to resolving all these crises, to stop the humanitarian suffering of the Syrians, to preserve Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and to irrevocably complete the fight against terrorism, lies in the comprehensive political solution through the full implementation of the UNSCR, 2254. High hopes of this implementation have been already spread by Astana track, and also by the outcomes of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi (January 2018), patronized by the Astana guarantor states. This hope in Astana track is particularly paralleled with an obvious absence of a genuine Western determination to put an end to the Syrian catastrophe, a fact that puts additional humanitarian responsibilities on the shoulders of three patrons of Astana process.

We understand that differences in viewpoints can emerge among the guarantors of the Astana agreement. Nonetheless, the magnitude of the sufferings of the Syrian people, the extent of the threats facing Syria and all of its neighboring countries -as a result of the delay in resolving the crisis, and as a result of the desire of many forces to blow up the entire region, driven by their hostility to the Astana guarantor States and to all the peoples of the region -, all the above mentioned factors collectively highlight the great historical responsibility on the part of the guarantor states to complete their positive efforts towards Syria and its people, by raising the degree of their tripartite consensus to the maximum possible extent.

We send you this short message ahead of the upcoming tripartite Summit in Ankara, as we have strong feelings of hope and confidence that this Summit could bring relieving news to the Syrians, closing the door to the dangerous possibilities threatening them, because we hope that it could practically launch the Syrian political solution, on the basis of the UNSCR 2254.

Please, do accept our due respect and best wishes!

On behalf of the leadership of Moscow Platform
of the Syrian Opposition,
Kadri Jamil
Head of the Platform
Friday, September 13, 2019