[3][4] Initially, the council denied seeking to play the role of a government in exile,[5] but this changed a few months later when violence in Syria intensified.

[6][7][8] The Syrian National Council sought the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule and the establishment of a modern, civil, democratic state.

The SNC National Charter lists human rights, judicial independence, press freedom, democracy and political pluralism as its guiding principles.

[9] In 2011 and 2012, the Council was recognized by several United Nations member states and by the European Union as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

[14] The Syrian National Council stated that participating in the talks would go backwards on its stance "to not enter negotiations" until president al-Assad left office.

[5] Paris-based Syrian academic Burhan Ghalioun originally served as its most prominent spokesperson and was named in September 2011 as chair of the council.

[32] Former Muslim Brotherhood leader Ali Sadr el-Din Bayanouni stated that Ghalioun was chosen because he "is accepted in the West and at home and, to prevent the regime from capitalising on the presence of an Islamist at the top of the SNC.

The three were Haitham al-Maleh, a former judge and long-standing dissident, Islamist-leaning liberal and opposition leader Kamal al-Labwani and human rights lawyer Catherine al-Talli.

"[41][42] The BBC reported from the meeting that "[a]ll but one of Syria's disparate opposition groups have agreed to unite behind the Syrian National Council.

[44] On 28 October 2011, the SNC expressed worries about the Libyan scenario (with the violent overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi) being reiterated in Syria.

With China and Russia veto impeding a Security Council resolution, the international intervention scenario is unlikely to unfold.

[47] Marc Lynch, a Professor of Political Science in the United States, is cited from his April 2016 book The New Arab Wars: Uprising and Anarchy in the Middle East as describing the Syrian National Council as a conduit by which the hopelessly factionalised Syrian opposition attracted and distributed money and arms from foreign sponsors.

[48] On 27 February 2012, Haitham al-Maleh and Kamal al-Labwani along with 18 other members of the SNC formed a sub-group called the Syrian Patriotic Group.