Marwah is a founding member of the Syrian National Council and the Syrian Coalition and holds a PhD in Comparative Law. Marwah says in his interview thatPresident Bashar Al Assad is full of pseudo confidence and is no mood to negotiate due to Russian military intervention in Syria at this time. The following are Marwah’s responses in his Q&A with Rai.

Question- What are your expectations from recently launched Vienna peace talks?

Answer- We are committed to a peaceful political solution for ongoing Syrian conflict. But due to recent military intervention of Russia in Syria in the side of repressive Damascus regime. Mr Bashar-Al-Assad is full of pseudo confidence and he is no mood to negotiate as he wrongly thinks that his position is getting stronger day by day. On the other hand Russia also through this peace talks wants to again reproduce the Assad government it's just a another effort of them to protect Assad regime. So we don't have much hope from these talks.

Question- Free Syrian Army (FSA) is losing ground to the extremist groups like- IS and Nusra Front. Do you think that FSA is being marginalized?

Answer- It will be incorrect to say that FSA is being marginalized it's still very active and effective on the ground. Yes sometimes they lose ground but they gain it elsewhere FSA is still a very important and significant fighting force.

Question- Syrian National Coalition wants neighboring countries to actively intervene in ongoing Syrian war?

Answer- We wants that our neighboring countries and the international community should pressurize Assad to hand over power in the hands of Syrian people. As without pressure Assad will not go and moreover international community has to ensure that Assad is not allowed to play any role in the future of Syria.

Question- If Syrian National Coalition comes into the power in Syria how it will deal with the extremist elements like- Islamic State and Nusra Front?

Answer- We are against any form of extremism and we are already fighting these elements on the battlefield. We will ensure that no form of any extremism exit in Syria and this is the global problem now and we will cooperate with world community in fight against it.

Question- What role Kurds and their militias like- YPG can play in future of Syria?

Answer- Kurds are integral part of our country we all are the same people. Jointly we have to make our country just because Kurds have different language and culture it doesn't separate them from us. As far as question of militia is there I think every militias which was made during the revolution for people protection should be integrated into national army after the revolution is over.

Question- What you want to say regarding ongoing tensions between Russia and Turkey over downing of Russian fighter aircraft by Turkey?

Answer- Turkey reaction was the act of self-defense which is the legitimate right of every nation. From various reports it's clear that Russian aircraft breach the Turkey airspace even for a short time. But still we want that tensions should defuse between these two nations as the region wants stability and peace.

Courtesy- ViewsAround (VA)

The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Asia Times.