Al-Jafari: US administration and European Union are continuing economic terrorism against Syria by imposing unilateral coercive measures

Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, affirmed that the Turkish regime continues to occupy large parts of northern Syria, steal and plunder the capabilities of the Syrian people, their wealth and natural resources, and  practices displacement, demographic change and Turkification. The crimes of the Turkish regime will not change the legal reality of the Syrian lands it occupies or affect sovereign rights of Syria.

In a statement during a session of theUN Security Council via video about the situation in Syria, Al-Jaafari said that Erdogan’s regime has expanded its military interventions, serious crimes and support for terrorism to go beyond Syria’s borders to a number of countries in the region and its neighborhood, including Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Somalia, Greece, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and others. These matters are dangerous and threaten international peace and security and would not have happened had it not been under the protection that NATO member states provide to their Turkish ally, similar to their patronage and the immunity they have granted to the Israeli occupation over the past seven decades.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that Syria has repeatedly called on the Security Council to hold the Erdogan regime accountable for its violations of international law, the provisions of the United Nations Charter and Security Council resolutions. The Turkish regime is also accountable for the war crimes against humanity committed in Syria, which started with the violation of the Adana Agreement signed between the two countries in 1998. Erdogan’s regime supports the  training and arming of thousands of border transient terrorists who were brought in from more than a hundred countries  and provides them  with political, military and media support before being integrated  into Turkish forces. The Turkish regime also carries out acts of aggression, occupies large parts of northern Syria, and steals and plunders the capabilities of the Syrian people, their wealth and natural resources, including antiquities, oil, gas, factories, machinery, agricultural crops. It also practices the policies of displacement, demographic change, and Turkification. It uses drinking water as a weapon against civilians. The regime of Erdogan and his terrorist organizations deliberately burnt large areas of land cultivated with wheat, barley, olives and citrus fruits, thus targeting their owners in their only source of livelihood.

Al-Jaafari expressed Syria’s regret that the Security Council did not move to show its solidarity with the Syrians who were affected by the fires that have occurred in large areas in a number of governorates recently .He indicated that Western countries would have filled the corridors of the United Nations screaming and calling for emergency sessions if those fires had broken out in the areas controlled by Al-Nusra Front terrorist organization or the US or Turkish occupation zones.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that the Turkish regime has renounced its obligations and commitments according to the outcomes of the Astana meetings and the Sochi understandings regarding Idlib region. It established the so-called separation wall on parts of the Syrian territories and tried to exploit the issue of the displaced to blackmail Europe and sign contemptible deals with it and transport the so called  “moderate armed opposition” terrorists and mercenaries from Syria to Libya. This regime is currently trying to rob the energy sources in the Mediterranean.

Al-Jaafari stressed that the crimes of the Turkish occupation will not detract from   Syria’s sovereignty in the  lands Turkey occupies, and will not lead in any way to undermine  the sovereign rights of Syria or represent a prior step of any future bilateral demarcation of the borders again at the same time. He renewed Syria’s call to end the illegal existence of the American occupation forces and to stop the support they provide to the terrorists, separatist militias, and illegal artificial entities, and their theft of Syrian oil, gas, and agricultural crops. He asked that the crimes aimed at depriving the Syrian state of its basic resources, prolonging the suffering of Syrians and obstructing a political solution come to a stop.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that the events taking place in the regions of the Middle East and the Mediterranean prove, day after day, the relevance of what Syria has repeatedly confirmed to the Security Council over the past nine years in terms of the efforts of some member state governments to destabilize the security and stability of the countries of the region to serve the interests of some governments and their aggressive and intrusive agendas.

Al-Jaafari stated that Syria also alerted the Security Council to the danger of dealing with terrorism and its organizations and criminals. Syria also underlined the need  not to forgive its sponsors. But Western countries didn’t heed Syria’s warnings and advice. Today everyone has realized the effects of those clumsy Western policies. Erdogan’s regime, which sponsors terrorism, is no longer satisfied with performing the tasks entrusted to it, represented in promoting Islamist and supporting terrorists organizations and terrorists crossing borders who were  brought into Syria through the north borders. Al-Jaafari noted that the American administration and its partners in the European Union continue the policies of economic terrorism and collective punishment of peoples through imposing unilateral coercive measures on them, especially Syria. These measures aimed at suffocating civilians and depriving them of food, medicine, basic medical equipment and fuel, and preventing reconstruction and the return of the displaced. This shows   great disregard for international law, the United Nations Charter and calls by the Secretary-General and senior staff of the International Organizations and the Human Rights Council on the need to lift these measures, especially in light of the challenges imposed by the Corona epidemic and the need to address it.

Al-Jaafari expressed Syria’s aspiration for the participation of countries that believe in international law and the provisions of the Charter in the International Conference on the Displaced, scheduled to be held in Damascus on the 11th and 12th of next month .He hoped that these countries will show support for the efforts of the Syrian state and its allies to improve the humanitarian and living conditions and will provide support to facilitate the return of the displaced Syrians in dignity and safety to their homeland, villages and homes. The conference aims at following up the call launched by Syria in 2017 for the return of the displaced and its demand at the time for the international community and the United Nations to support the repatriation process, create the appropriate environment and provide basic services to the returnees- a call that the governments of some countries sought to obstruct and impose unfair politicized conditions on humanitarian and development work in Syria.

Al-Jaafari affirmed that Syria has never failed to engage in the political track, as it openly participated in the Geneva talks, Moscow consultations, and Astana meetings, as well as positively dealt with the outcomes of the Syrian National Dialogue Conference in Sochi represented by the formation of a committee to discuss the constitution. It also engaged in a serious and constructive dialogue with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Syria Geir  Pedersen, which led to the formation of a committee to discuss the constitution and start its work in Geneva. Al-Jaafari said: Syria hopes that the committee will succeed in the task entrusted to it. It confirms that this success can only be achieved by ensuring non-interference in its affairs. Since the committee was formed and started its work, it has become the decision maker and it decides the work process and recommendations, so that all this process will be under the leadership   of Syria on the basis that the Syrian people have the exclusive right to determine the future of their country .Al-Jaafari indicated that Pedersen visited Damascus two days ago and held meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid al-Muallem, and the co-chair of the national side in the work of the constitution discussion committee, Ahmed Al-Kuzbari. During Pederson’s visit, the Syrian side underlined the importance of the success of the committee’s work which requires respecting the rules of its procedures that have been agreed upon, including not allowing any external interference or pressures to hinder its work, in addition to the fact that some countries try to set unacceptable timetables that will not serve the work of this  committee, which relates to the present and future of Syria.

In response to the representatives of Western countries, Al-Jaafari said the more I listened to the representatives of these countries in the council’s sessions, the more I became convinced of the amount of futility in their speech and the amount of hypocrisy in their reading and confusion in their countries ’wrong policies towards my country. The opponent cannot be a judge, and the one who is fond of setting fires cannot claim to be a fireman.

Inas Abdulkareem