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UN envoy meets Syrian stakeholders on implementation of Geneva Communique

Xinhua, June 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Thursday met with the president and members of the political committee of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces in Istanbul, Turkey.

"Mr. de Mistura heard their views regarding the operationalization and implementation of the Geneva Communique," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

The Geneva Communique, adopted after the first international meeting on Syria on June 30, 2012, called for the creation of a transitional government that would lead to holding of elections. The communique has long been seen as the political basis for peace talks on the Syrian crisis.

In November 2014, de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, the Syrian capital, pushing for the implementation of a UN plan including local truces. Before that, the Italian-Swedish envoy put forward an "action plan " for Syria that proposed to "freeze" fighting in local areas to allow for aid deliveries, and to lay the groundwork for peace talks.

"Both parties agreed on the importance and urgency of finding a political solution to the current conflict," Dujarric said. "They also agreed on the urgency of an immediate halt of the killing and targeting of civilians."

"Mr. de Mistura said that his visit demonstrates once again that the purpose of the Geneva Consultations is to give a chance to all Syrians to share their views of what a future Syria should look like," he said.

The Istanbul-based Syrian National Coalition was one of the main parties representing the Syrian opposition in the first and second Geneva conferences in 2012 and 2014, respectively. However, the group appeared to gradually lose touch with developments on the ground.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict between the Syrian government and opposition forces began in March 2011, according to the United Nations. Endite