Syria's major opposition group declared Thursday that it will probably inaugurate a military representation in Turkey, Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), said at a press conference in Paris that the council would launch efforts to provide the opponents in Syria with weapons.

Anatolia quoted Ghalioun as saying that some countries are willing to extend arms assistance to the SNC and the military representation would deal with the distribution of those weapons.

The council would first try to list its needs and then to find out how it could provide them, Ghalioun said.

However, their aim was to protect civilians, not to start war, he said.

The Paris-based leadership of the SNC formed a military council Thursday to organize armed resistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.

The SNC, which has called earlier for arming the rebels in Syria, said its plan was coordinated with the Free Syrian Army, an anti-government militia made up mainly of Syrian army defectors.

At a meeting of "Friends of Syria" held last week in Tunisia, delegates from over 60 countries and organizations, including the United States and European and Arab nations, reached a consensus on avoiding the militarization of the Syrian conflict and moving instead towards a political solution by recognizing the SNC as a " legitimate representative" for the Syrian people.

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