Turkey: Main opposition CHP to hold Syria conference

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) will hold an International Syria Conference on Sep. 28 in Istanbul, according to a party statement on Wednesday.

The conference will address topics including "the international dimension of the Syrian issue, the problems faced by Syrian refugees, social life and integration, the strategic role of the regional actors, and the role of local administrations," said the statement.

In the conference, CHP will thoroughly examine the Syrian issue with reference to self dynamics of Syria's neighbors and the region, it added.

The conference aims to understand the situation of Syria's human resource in the foreign countries and how the neighbor countries make contribution to the solution of the Syrian issue, it said.

The statement also stressed that the conference was not an alternative to international efforts on the Syrian issue, but aims to make contribution to the peace efforts such as the Astana process and the Geneva conference.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.