Syria exporting war to neighbors: SNC

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Abdulbaset Sieda blames the Syrian regime for the shelling of Akçakale.

The Syrian regime is trying to enlarge the Syrian civil war into a regional conflict by exporting the war to Turkey, Abdulbaset Sieda, leader of the most prominent Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), said on Oct. 5.

“The Syrian regime is responsible for the bombing and shelling of Akçakale. They are trying to export the war to Turkey and turn it into a regional conflict in order to keep attention away from the revolutionary struggle inside Syria,” Sieda told a group of journalists at a press conference in Istanbul.

The Syrian regime has been killing civilians every day, and is now trying to spread the war to neighboring countries such as Turkey and Lebanon, Sieda said. “The Syrian regime is especially trying to export the war to countries like Turkey and Lebanon that have welcomed Syrian refugees.”

“This incident [the shelling of Akçakale on Oct. 3] clarifies that if there is not an international intervention in Syria, there will be an escalation of incidents of this kind, and if it continues like this, in the end the regional instability may cause disastrous results.”

The SNC has grown, with the participation of more Syrian groups and factions, SNC Executive Committee member Samir Neshar said. “We have added 39 new opposition groups to the SNC in order to increase the representation of the revolutionary groups within the SNC. We have also added new civil society groups, who represent 10 percent of the SNC.” The representation of women in the SNC will also be increased to about 15 percent, Neshar said.