Meeting in Istanbul, the Syrian National Coalition examines the U.S. and Russia’s initiative to convene "Geneva conference 2," an international push to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.

"In principle, our position was to welcome the international initiative (...). However, we learned on Saturday that representatives of the regime would go to Geneva to talk with us. But we are not in a dialogue with the regime and will not accept any agreement that does not contemplate the departure of Bashar al-Assad," stated SNC spokesman Louay al-Safi to the Turkish National Agency.