Opposition Syrian coalition closes its office in Ankara

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has closed its office in the Turkish capital of Ankara, a member from its political body told Rudaw on Monday.

Speaking to Rudaw on behalf of the Kurdish National Council in Syria, Abdullah Kado said that the decision to close the coalition’s office in Ankara “was issued by the coalition because of the restructuring and the reductions required of all its departments, including the coalition’s presidency.”

Kado reaffirmed that the closure is “temporary,” noting that their business in the capital will continue.

Commonly named the Syrian National Coalition or the Syrian Opposition Coalition, the coalition of opposition groups in the Syrian civil war was founded in Qatar a year after the civil war in Syria, with its headquarters based in Istanbul.

The coalition is an umbrella of groups opposed to the Syrian government that is controlled by the Baathist regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Kado rejected the claims of the closure of their office upon the request of the Turkish government.

The coalition office was opened in Ankara in 2016. It was set to be the headquarters of the Syrian-Turkish joint committee, and the path to connect with Turkey’s interior ministry in order to solve the problems and issues faced by Syrians in Turkey.

Reporting by Hussein Omer