'Turkmens well represented on Syrian charter committee’

GENEVA

Turkmens are best represented in terms of quality on the newly launched Syrian Constitutional Committee, said a Turkmen member.

The opening meeting of the 150-member committee on Wednesday was held in a “positive atmosphere,” Abdul Majeed Barakat told Anadolu Agency following the start of the committee in Geneva.

"Turkmens are best represented on the committee qualitatively. We will voice the demands of Turkmen society in a national framework," he said.

Barakat, who is the youngest member of the committee, said they are not representing just one society but the whole Syria.

He said the guarantor countries and other countries were "very happy" for the formation of the Syrian Constitutional Committee and the international atmosphere was “positive”.

"Therefore, the [Syrian] regime felt obliged to be tied to the process," Barakat said.

He added that they do not want the process to be extended and do not want waste of time and energy.

The Syrian Constitutional Committee -- made up of opposition, civil society, and regime members -- began its work on Wednesday in Geneva with the UN facilitation.

The committee is mandated, within the context of a UN-facilitated Geneva process, to prepare and draft for popular approval of constitutional reforms paving the way for a political settlement in Syria.

*Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet in Ankara