Co-Chair of Syrian Democratic Council Mission to US Bassam Ishaq discusses Arab normalization with Syrian regime

WASHINGTON, DC — Co-Chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Mission to the US in Washington, D.C., Bassam Ishaq, spoke to our news desk about the recent normalization with the Syrian regime by members of the Arab League.

“The attempts of normalization between the Arab Gulf states and the Syrian regime have several reasons,” according to Ishaq. “They include the internal interests of these countries after they stopped supporting the Syrian armed factions and the need for a security solution to stop the smuggling of Captagon.”

Ishaq further elaborated that the normalization efforts were driven by the failure of negotiations between the opposition and the Syrian regime in Geneva. He criticized the regime for not taking the talks seriously and not accepting the transition of power. He also highlighted the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has frozen cooperation between the US and Russia on the Syrian, and other, dossier. Ishaq believes that a new approach to resolving the Syrian issue is necessary.

Ishaq concluded:

“The Arab countries need to have normal relations between the Syrian state and their countries. Therefore, they decided to start a dialogue with the regime. According to their claim, this dialogue will be based on finding a peaceful solution to the Syrian issue.”