Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Jordan and Turkey recently to help coordinate efforts across the region to support the Syrian people “as they transition away from Assad,” as he told reporters at a press briefing in Jordan:
“And what we’re focused on is not choosing a path for Syria but making sure the Syrian people have the opportunity to choose their path forward.”
Secretary Blinken said that to succeed, any transitional government must adhere to certain basic principles.
“It’s got to uphold and protect the rights of all Syrians, including minorities, including women. It has to make sure that it’s preserving institutions of the state, delivering services. We have to make sure that any interim government also makes sure that Syria is not used as a base for terrorism, extremism, and pose a threat to its neighbors or ally with groups like ISIS. It needs to also ensure that any chemical weapons are secured and destroyed.”
Secretary Blinken said that in his conversation with allies in the region, “everyone’s agreed to have a unified approach to advance many of our shared interests.”
“We’re also going to be very focused on preventing any actor inside or outside the country from putting their narrow self-interests ahead of the interests of the Syrian people, especially in this delicate moment. And that includes, of course, ISIS, which no doubt will seek to regroup. And I think it’s been demonstrated the United States is determined to prevent that from happening.”
The principles he described, said Secretary Blinken, are “designed to reflect the needs, the aspirations, the will of the Syrian people; not to dictate what they should do, but to make sure that they have the opportunity to follow their own path.”
“[F]or the first time in decades Syria has an opportunity to have a government that is not dominated by a dictator like Assad ... that’s not dominated by an outside power, that’s not dominated by Isis, but that in fact is run by and answers to the Syrian people,” he said.
“And,” declared Secretary Blinken, “we’re determined to do everything we can, working in close coordination with partners, to help the Syrian people realize that aspiration.”
