Antalya Conference for Change in Syria
Date | 31 May – 3 June 2011 |
---|---|
Venue | Falez Hotel, Muratpaşa |
Location | Antalya, Turkey |
Coordinates | 36°52′59″N 30°39′57″E / 36.88306°N 30.66583°E |
Also known as | Antalya Opposition Conference |
Type | Conference |
Theme | Political situation in Syria |
Patrons | Ali & Wassim Sanqar, Ammar al-Qurabi[1] |
Organized by | National Organization for Human Rights in Syria,[1] Abdulrazak Eid[2] |
Politics of Syrian opposition |
---|
![]() |
The Conference for Change in Syria (
Organized by Ammar al-Qurabi's National Organization for Human Rights in Syria and financed by the wealthy Damascene Sanqar family,[1] it led to a final statement refusing compromise or reform solutions, and to the election of a 31-member leadership.
Background
More than two months into the uprising, the death toll had reached 1,000. So after the April 2011 Istanbul Meeting had only resulted in a first joint declaration, a second meeting was envisioned to form a permanent committee, that was likened to the Libyan National Transitional Council.[3]
On 30 May, the eve of the conference, Syrian president
Participation
The conference was attended by c. 350 representatives of the Syrian opposition from all over the world, with a vast majority of c. 300 participants coming from the Syrian diaspora. According to the observing Tharwa Foundation, the participants represented more than 68 opposition parties and groups and a dozen human rights groups.[5] While only few prominent oppositional figures from inside Syria participated, others, including Haitham al-Maleh, gave their support through voice recordings.[3]
Participants included members of
The conference was the first one to be attended by reporters from all major global news outlets, including
Results
Final Declaration
The conference concluded with a Final Declaration that displayed a change of tone regarding the Syrian government. Calling on president Bashar al-Assad to step down and to resign immediately from all of his duties and positions, this was the first time since the beginning of the uprising that the opposition dropped its calls for reform.[3]
The final declaration consisted of the following seven demands:[7]
- Participants are committed to the demands of the Syrian people in calling on the Syrian president to step down, in demanding the toppling of the regime, and in supporting the great, peaceful revolution of the Syrian people towards freedom and dignity."
- Participants call on president
Syrian constitutionthat shall call for free and transparent parliamentary and presidential elections within a period not to exceed one year from the resignation of president Bashar al-Assad.- Participants assert their continuous support of the Syrian revolution until it achieves its objectives while emphasizing peace, patriotism, the unity of Syrian soil, the unequivocal rejection of foreign military intervention and national unity of Syrian revolution – one that does not represent any partisan direction nor does it target any particular group of Syrian society.
- Participants affirm that the Syrian people are of many ethnicities, Arab, and others. The conference establishes the legitimate and equal rights of all under a new Syrian constitution based on national unity, civil state and a pluralistic, parliamentary, and democratic regime.
- Participants commit to exert all efforts towards achieving a democratic future of Syria which respects
freedom of belief, expression and practice of religion, under a civil state based on the separation of legislative, judicial and executive powers, while adopting democracy and the ballot boxas the sole medium of governance.- Participants are committed to the hard and serious missions of ensuring economic prosperity, scientific and cultural advancements under the umbrella of justice, peace and security.
- Participants call on all Arabs, the
International Community to take legal and ethical responsibility in order to stop the violation of human rights and crimes against humanitycommitted against unarmed civilians, and to support the ambition of the Syrian people of freedom and democracy.
Elected councils
- Consultative Council
The participants elected a follow-up Consultative Council of 31 members to coordinate all further activities supportive of the envisioned Syrian revolution.[3] The slate-based list included 4 Kurds, 4 members of Arab tribes, 4 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, 4 supporters of the Damascus Declaration, plus 10 under 30 years-old independents and 5 over-30 years old independents[8] and received over 200 out of some 250 votes.[9]
The elected members were as following:[5]
- Hussain Abdelhadi
- Tamer al-Awam
- Amr al-Azm
- Amir al-Dandal
- Mulham al-Droubi
- Moatasim Ibrahim al-Hariri
- Ahmad Fahed Ibrahim al-Hodeideen
- Muhammad Murad al-Khaznawi
- Nour al-Masri
- Ghassan al-Mifleh
- Omar al-Muqdad
- Salim Abdulaziz al-Muslet
- Moaz al-Sibaai
- Mosab Salih al-Tahhan
- Radwan Badini
- Najib Ghadbian
- Ahmad Riyad Ghannam
- Abdurrhaman Jleilati
- Muhammad Karkouti
- Mohammad Mansour
- Salim Monem
- Wajdi Moustafa
- Hamdi Othman
- Ammar al-Qurabi
- Muhammad Rasheed
- Muhammad Sadik Sheikh Deeb
- Sondos Sulaiman
- Walid Sheikho
- Khawla Yusuf
- Radwan Ziadeh
- Aksam Barakat
- Executive Council
Additionally an Executive Council was elected with the following nine members:[5]
Reactions and scholarly opinions
Burhan Ghalioun, first chairman of the later Syrian National Council, criticized the event as "serving foreign agendas," which prompted one of the organizers, Abdulrazak Eid, to accuse Ghalioun of attempting to appease the regime.[10]
According to Swedish MENA-expert Aron Lund, the Muslim Brotherhood played "a central role" in the conference, while Kurds were "poorly represented".[2] Paris-based political economist and publicist Samir Aita considered the Antalya conference as the turning point from an uprising for "freedom and dignity" towards a full-scale revolution. While all other opposition groups were looking to create the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCB), Aita sees in the conference a first attempt of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Syrian Democratic People's Party, main component of the Damascus Declaration body, to head out on a different path.[11]
Aftermath
The conference was succeeded by a
References
- ^ a b c Lauren Williams (30 May 2011). "Syrian businessmen back opposition conference". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-91-86317-07-2.
- ^ a b c d e Ufuk Ulutaş (2011). "The Syrian Opposition in the Making: Capabilities and Limits" (PDF). Insight Turkey. 13 (3): 87–106 (here: p. 92). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
- ^ "Syrian opposition gathered in Antalya swiftly rejects Assad's amnesty offer". Today's Zaman. 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d "The Antalya Conference – A Brief Report" (PDF). Tharwa Foundation. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ ORSAM 2011, p. 41.
- ^ "Final Declaration of the Antalya Opposition Conference" (PDF).
- ^ ORSAM 2011, p. 58.
- ^ ORSAM 2011, pp. 61 f.
- ^ Basheer al-Baker (13 September 2011). "Burhan Ghalioun: Opposition from Exile or at Home?". Al Akhbar. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8203-4824-7.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-605-5330-12-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link