Hundreds of Syrian politicians and activists gathered Tuesday in Damascus to endorse the opening steps of the country’s political transition, a milestone event after decades of ironfisted one-family rule.

Although the conference was called to chart the country’s future, the Kurdish-led militia that controls much of Syria’s northeast was not invited.

Syria's national dialogue conference, held Tuesday in Damascus, called for transitional justice, freedom and a state monopoly on arms to be among the cornerstones of the country's reconstruction after