Hijab, Davutoglu discuss Syria talks in Riyadh

Riad Hijab, the General Coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) met with the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu today in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to discuss the developments on the Syrian political process, the HNC Press Office said in a statement.

During the meeting, Hijab expressed his concern regarding the continuation of the siege on various Syrian cities and the intensified air strikes on residential areas and refugee camps.

Hijab stated that HNC’s response comes due to the assurance and guarantees of international forces to address the humanitarian issue, especially with regard to lifting the siege, delivery of aid to the famished areas, release of detainees and the immediate cessation of indiscriminate shelling of civilians.

These assurances and guarantees are the backbone of the UNSC 2254 resolution which is considered to be at a higher level than negotiating with Assad, and they do not fall within the negotiating agenda since they are the natural right of the Syrian people, Hijab said.

He pointed out that if the UN and world powers were unable to end Assad’s continuous human rights violations on the Syrian people, then the opposition delegation may have to pull its members out of the talks since their stay in Geneva will be pointless.