Al-Shawwa: Presence of Foreign Military Forces in Syria without Syrian Government’s Approval Blatant Aggression

MOSCOW – Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mahmoud al-Shawwa said on Wednesday that the presence of any foreign military forces on Syrian territory without approval of Syrian government is a clear aggression and occupation, and it will be dealt with accordingly, SANA reported.

In Syria’s speech at the 7th Moscow International Security Conference, which kicked off on Wednesday, al-Shawwa said that the eradication of terrorism in Syria dealt a blow to the Western schemes in the region, as the military victories of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies paved the way towards a peaceful solution devised by the Syrians, providing a political track as an alternative because the developments on the field set the direction of local, regional, and international political decisions.

 According to SANA, He said that as the Syrian Arab Army and its allies are uprooting terrorism, Syria is continuing along the course of openness, intra-Syrian dialogue, national reconciliation, and reconstruction, adding that the victories achieved on the ground caused several countries to backtrack and change their positions and convictions.

Al-Shawwa said that Syrian citizens remained resilient in defending their homeland, paving the way towards victory against terrorism via two military and political tactics that run in parallel, which are fighting terrorism until the last terrorist in Syria is eliminated, and remaining open to all political solutions that respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and that reject subservience to foreign sides.

The Deputy Minister said that the Syrian government responded positively to the Astana meetings, which had relative positive effects that would have been better if the Turkish guarantor was committed to the process, adding that the government also attended all rounds of Geneva talks which the opposition groups kept undermining upon the instructions of their regional and international masters.

He noted that as the Syrian National Dialogue Congress kicked off in Sochi, Syria’s enemies delved deeper into attempts to tamper with Syrian geography, and they sought to undermine the Congress starting with a series of lies to undermine the Syrian Arab Army’s successive victories and to cover up the fact that Western states were arming terrorist groups.

Al-Shawwa said that 2017 was the year of major field victories against terrorism in Syria, as Daesh (ISIS) having been defeated by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies, with the Russian Aerospace Forces playing a vital role in this.

He went on to say that in 2017, the Syrian Arab Army established control over the entirety of Aleppo’s eastern countryside and secured the central part of Syria in record time, encircling the base set up by the US in al-Tanf and making contact with the Iraqi army on the borders, after which the 1043-day terrorist siege on Deir Ezzor was broken and the presence of Daesh was eliminated in Homs’ eastern countryside, leading to the liberation of the entirety of Deir Ezzor city, advancing towards al-Mayadeen, and reclaiming al-Boukamal, the last stronghold of Daesh, with 7/12/2017 being the day Daesh collapsed in Syria.

The Deputy Minister said that currently is presence of Daesh in Syria is limited to a few isolated and fully-encircled pockets that make up around 4% of Syria, or around 7,000 square kilometers spread in several areas in the east of the country, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, parts of al-Yarmouk Camp and al-Hajar al-Aswad near Damascus, and on the borders with Jordan and Palestine.

He said that when Syria and its allies began to reach the final stages of the war on terror, the states that control the terrorists went crazy and started to employ their own forces, whether the American forces that came to replace terrorist groups in northern Syria or the invading Turkish forces, and this was accompanied by American and Israeli attacks on Syria in clear violation of international law, all to support terrorists and cover up their defeats, and this explains the recent US attempts to make up different excuses to justify its presence in Syria and maintain its illegal bases and forces to seize control over oil fields and divide Syria via the so-called federalism project.

Al-Shawwa noted that Washington tried to scavenge its terrorist pawns by forming a new force of “armed opposition” that it leads and trains directly from the remnants of Daesh.

The Deputy Minister said the region is still subject to a dangerous colonialist campaign that employs the tactics of escalating conflicts, supporting terrorism, and starting wars to achieve the goals of certain states.

He pointed out that Syria had often warned that terrorism knows no boundaries or borders, and it poses a threat to everyone around the world, therefore the issue of counter-terrorism must be a global priority, calling on active regional and international forces to play a positive role in this regard.

 “How could stability be achieved and reinforced in our region without curbing the hostile practices of the Turkish regime, the Israeli entity, and the its American ally?” he wondered, stressing that Syria views the presence of any foreign military forces on Syrian territory without approval of Syrian government is a clear aggression and occupation, and it will be dealt with accordingly

Al-Shawwa said that everyone must work earnestly and in unison to deal with the effects and repercussions of terrorism and take out its sources and funding, reiterating Syria’s calls for holding all the regional and international sides who support terrorism responsible for their actions.

Putin to Moscow International Security Conference: Despite its defeat, Daesh retains its destructive potential

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that despite its military defeat, Daesh (ISIS) retains its significant destructive potential, as it can change its tactics and launch attacks in different countries and regions in the world.

In a message to the participants in the 7th Moscow International Security Conference, which kicked off on Wednesday with the participation of delegations from 95 countries including Syria, the Russian President said that other extremist groups also present a big threat to the world, SANA reported.

Putin stressed that it is now necessary to think about new forms of “multilateral cooperation” that would allow the parties to consolidate the success achieved in the fight against terrorism and to prevent the further spread of this threat.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said in his speech at the opening of the Conference that the situation in Syria has changed after eradicating Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organization, warning against the possibility of terrorists obtaining chemical and mass destruction weapons in Syria to carry out provocative acts, sowing chaos among the civilians and prolonging the crisis in the country.

In 2015 and upon the request of the Syrian state, Russia decided to help the Syrian government in eradicating Daesh and other terrorist organizations, Shoygu said, noting that the US-led international coalition didn’t achieve any outcome in fighting terrorism after it had interfered in Syria.

The Russian Defense Minister said that the international coalition sought to destabilize the situation in the region and enhance its military and economic presence in it, as it didn’t cooperate with Russia, and if that had happened, terrorism would have been eradicated in a shorter period.

He pointed out that the situation in Syria has changed following the start of the operation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, as Syria has been liberated from terrorists, many terrorist groups handed over their weapons, and Daesh was eradicated.

Shoygu said that despite the formation of the de-escalation zones, the terrorist organizations in Eastern Ghouta continued to target Damascus with shells and not only prevented the delivery of humanitarian aid and medicine to the locals of Ghouta, but they confiscated them and sold them, and due to that Russia and Syria faced a difficult mission on evacuating the civilians, asserting that more than 150,000 persons have been evacuated.

He added that during the past two days, civilians started to return to their homes in Ghouta.