We welcome the decision taken by the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as a result of the meetings held in İstanbul on 18-19 March 2013 to establish an interim Government and the election of Ghassan Hitto as the Prime Minister of this interim Government.

In accordance with the approach adopted by the Arab League at the Regular Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in Cairo on 6 March 2013, this decision of the Coalition constitutes a concrete indication of the common sense and resoluteness by the Syrian National Coalition in standing up for Syria as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

We are fully confident that the interim Government will be successful in the struggle to meet the legitimate demands and urgent needs of the Syrian people in view of the regime’s ever intensifying atrocities.

Turkey congratulates the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces for this significant step forward and wishes success to the interim Government which will undertake an important role in the Syrian people's struggle for freedom and democracy.