Al-Miqdad : Syria will fight against terrorism and work to end foreign occupation

On September 27th, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Dr. Faisal Al-Miqdad, affirmed that Syria’s battle against terrorism will continue until  all of its lands are cleansed of it , and no external aggression or pressure will deter it from that. 

Al-Miqdad said that history will record that the Syrian people not only defended their homeland and civilization in their struggle against terrorism, but also defended all of humanity. 

“Syria is working to end foreign occupation of its lands by all means guaranteed by international law,” Al-Miqdad said in Syria’s speech before the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Al-Miqdad said: “ During the past two years, the world has gone through unprecedented circumstances for many years, as hospitals were filled with patients and we lost millions of lives, the economy declined, poverty and hunger increased, cities were isolated and movement restricted, universities and schools closed, and we feared getting close to each other, all because of a virus that is not visible to the eye and is still evolving and mutating and threatening to kill more lives around the world. In the face of this difficult reality, there was a bright side, as great efforts were made and important successes were achieved, whether at the medical level or at the level of human solidarity that some countries showed. But some western countries unilaterally imposed his coercive economic measures on a number of countries, ignoring all the appeals that launched by the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to lift or ease these measures. 

Al-Miqdad continued: “ If ‘Covid 19’ kills one time , it will kill again and again in light of unilateral coercive economic measures. I will quote what the Special Rapporteur concerned with the negative impact of these measures on the enjoyment of human rights said : “Sanctions bring suffering and death in countries like Cuba. Iran, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen”. I also will quote a group of independent UN human rights experts as saying: “Sanctions imposed in the name of advancing human rights are in fact killing people and depriving them of basic rights including the right to health, food and the right to life itself.” 

Al-Miqdad welcomed the general discussion topic of the session, which is “building resilience through hope”, wondering whether some would be consistent with this title? Will capacity building really take place in a sustainable manner and respect for the rights of peoples? Will the governments of some countries stop their wrong policies that have left dangerous repercussions on security and stability in the world? 

Al-Miqdad explained that it is not a secret to anyone that Syria was one of the countries most affected by terrorist acts and crimes that took place with military, financial, media and logistical support by countries known for their support of terrorism. Our country was proud of achievements of its people in various fields, where development rates reached more than 9.5 percent in the year 2010 prior to the start of the terrorist war on Syria. But thanks to the sacrifices of Syrian army and people we realized great achievements in eliminating terrorism.  

Al-Miqdad stressed that Syria will continue its battle against terrorism until cleansing all of its lands and restoring authority of the state,security and stability to all parts of the country.

Al-Miqdad indicated that Syria dealt seriously and positively with the meetings held in the Astana Talk , in the hope that this would contribute positively to the battle against terrorism and restore security and stability in Syria. But the Turkish regime is still providing evidence after another that it is not committed to the Astana outcomes and the Sochi understandings related to the Idlib region. 

Al-Miqdad pointed to the war crimes against humanity committed by the Turkish regime in the lands it occupies in Syria, whether through the policies of “Turkization”, forced displacement and assault on the people of those areas who reject this occupation, or through collective punishment by deliberately and repeatedly cutting off water for more than a million citizens in the city of Hasaka and its western countryside. The level of the Euphrates river flow has reduced to less than half of the rates agreed upon between the two countries under the 1987 agreement. This causes serious humanitarian, environmental, health and agricultural repercussions which require urgent and serious intervention from the Security Council and the United Nations General Secretariat to stop these violations and crimes. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates affirmed Syria’s position that any foreign presence on its territory without its consent is illegal and constitutes a blatant violation of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and all relevant Security Council resolutions that stress the need for a strong commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity. This illegal presence prevents the completion of the judicial mission. Therefore, the Turkish and American forces’ occupation of Syrian lands under false pretexts and their theft of the Syrian people’s wealth and capabilities must end immediately and unconditionally. Just as Syria defeated terrorism from most of its lands, it will work with the same determination and insistence to end this occupation by all means guaranteed by international law.

Al-Miqdad went on to say: We warn the few who have separatist agendas in northeastern Syria against continuing their illusions that the Syrian people reject, because by doing so they put themselves in the category of forces conspiring against the unity of Syria’s land and people. In parallel with the course of combating terrorism, Syria has always been open to any honest and impartial political initiatives or efforts to help it get out of the crisis despite the obstacles placed by somecountries. While preserving the national principles, Syria participated in the Geneva talks, the Moscow consultations, and the Astana meetings. It also facilitated the launching of the work of the Constitutional Discussion Committee through its contribution to reaching an agreement on the composition of the committee and its rules of procedure. This process must be carried out under and leadership of Syria and without external interference. We also stress the need for the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to maintain his role as a facilitator and to report what is happening in an impartial and objective manner. 

“We have repeatedly stressed that the doors of the homeland are wide open for all Syrian refugees to return safely to their homeland, and that the concerned authorities in Syria are working diligently and continuously to achieve this by working to rebuild and rehabilitate the infrastructure and service facilities in the areas that have been liberated from terrorism,” Al-Miqdad added. By adopting procedures to facilitate the process of returning those who wish to return and to secure their basic requirements. The Minister indicated that to achieve this end, a number of decrees were issued that can be used to ensure safe and voluntary return, but unfortunately some are exploiting the suffering of the Syrians and using this to achieve their own goals far from the humanitarian goals and interests of the Syrian people.  

Minister Miqdad stressed the need for humanitarian action in Syria to be carried out in a manner consistent with respect for its sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and to work with its approval and coordination in accordance with General Assembly Resolution No. 46-182. He underlined the need to expand humanitarian activity to include development aid, early recovery and resilience projects, expressing readiness to provide the necessary facilities to achieve this, to deliver humanitarian aid to those who deserve it from inside Syria, and to close the so-called “cross-border aid mechanism,” which allowed aid to reach terrorist groups instead of those who really need it.

Al-Miqdad reiterated Syria’s affirmation that the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances and by anyone, at any place or time is completely condemned and rejected. Therefore, it voluntarily joined the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and fulfilled, during a record period, all obligations resulting from this accession. Syriawas keen on continuous cooperation with the OPCW to close this file as soon as possible, but unfortunately some countries have blatantly politicized this file, whether by continuing to make baseless accusations against Syria or by questioning Syria’s cooperation with the organization. 

Al-Miqdad clarified that “Israel” has continued its occupation of the Syrian Golan, since 1967. Therefore, Syria reaffirms its firm adherence to its right to restore the entire occupied Golan up to the June 4, 1967 line, and that all the measures taken by “Israel” to change its natural and demographic features or impose its authority on it is null and void.

The minister pointed out that the continued inability of the United Nations and the international community to compel Israel to implement the resolutions of international legitimacy and stop its grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law has become unacceptable. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the accountability of “Israel” for this rogue behavior in order to preserve security and stability in the region, to achieve truth and justice, and to implementinternational law. 

Al-Miqdad indicated that despite everything that happened in Syria during the past years, the issue of Palestine remained its central national issue. It spared no effort to support the brotherly Palestinian people in their struggle to restore their occupied lands and all their legitimate rights, especially their right to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and grant it full membership at the United Nations and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions. Syria also calls for stopping war crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Palestinian territories, accusing the countries that support “Israel” as being responsible for the continuation of these crimes.

Al-Miqdad expressed Syria’s full solidarity and support for the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the illegal and irresponsible US measures towards it, especially with regard to Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement again.” 

Al-Miqdad added: “ Syria condemns the economic embargo imposed on Cuba for decades and the US measures to militarize the situation on the Korean Peninsula.” He voicedSyria’s support for Russia and China’s approach in preserving international law, ensuring security and stability and achieving development in the world and in the face of hegemony attempts and foreign intervention policies pursued by some countries.

Al-Miqdad highlighted the urgency to strengthen dialogue and understanding between countries based on the basis of mutual respect, common interests, equality of sovereignty and respect for international law. This would contribute to establishing a new more balanced, democratic and just world order and contributing to achieving the common aspirations of its peoples and achieving development, prosperity and stability that everyone seeks away from the policies of some countries which are based on military and political intervention, support for terrorism, and the imposition of unilateral coercive measures. 

Inas Abdulkareem / O. al-Mohammad