The continued interference of external forces in Syrian affairs will not bring about an end to the war in Syria, said Ilham Ahmed, President of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) on Friday.

She was speaking on the first day of the Raqqa Consultative Forum, organised to discuss the present political situation in Syria and to search for a unified political position amongst Syrians themselves that could bring about a peaceful, political solution to the country.

Ahmed emphasised that the consultative meetings among Syrian political forces on the ground in the country were an opportunity to develop a unified political position on the necessity of bringing the war to an end.

“Syrians will be able to impose a political solution on the international community once they have agreed on a unified position,” The North Press Agency cited Ahmed as saying.

Ahmed also pointed to the priorities of Turkey, saying that while the world was concerned about strengthening NATO against Russian aggression, Turkey’s priority was aimed against the Kurds, referring to the country’s objection to Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO.

“Turkey does not care about the Syrian people. It rather exploited the refugee matter and received huge sums of money under the pretext of receiving Syrian refugees,” she said.

Fifty delegates from national figures, political parties, human rights and civil society organisations will participate in the Raqqa Consultative Forum over the next two days.

The Raqqa Consultative Forum’s main themes for discussion will be the present political situation in Syria in general and for decentralisation, national identity and democracy to be the basis of a Syrian political solution.

Reporters from the Hawar News Agency were attacked by Turkish controlled gangs with heavy weapons on their way to cover the Raqqa Consultative Forum, which further underlines the problem of external forces in Syria. No injuries were reported.