In a pre-recorded message at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem accused the Turkish regime of being “one of the main sponsors of terror” in Syria and the Middle East at large. He blamed Ankara for committing crimes against humanity by cutting off the water supply to over a dozen Syrian towns that have been resisting Turkish intervention.
In uncharacteristically harsh language, Moallem said that the Turkish administration reigns above all in terms of sponsoring and financing terrorism. The minister also accused Ankara of moving mercenaries and “terrorists” from Syria to Libya, using refugees and their lives as “bargaining chips against Europe,” and forcibly laying claim to energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean. “The current Turkish regime has become a rogue and outlaw regime under international law,” he said, adding, “Its policies and actions, which threaten the security and stability of the whole region, must be stopped.”
Most recently, Turkey has been accused of deploying Syrian rebel mercenaries to aid Azerbaijani soldiers in their fight with Armenia at the contested breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Syrian conflict, which has been ongoing since 2011, is a civil war between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syrian Kurdish fighters, and members of the Islamic State. The issue has also escalated to a regional proxy fight between Turkey and Russia, with Ankara backing opposition rebels with military and financial might and controlling strategic zones in the north.
Turkey’s UN spokesperson said that Ankara rejected the Syrian side’s “delusional” remarks, calling the allegations “ludicrous.” They said that the ”murderous” Syrian regime’s allegations are unacceptable and shameful, and that the government, whose legitimacy has been lost, continues to misuse the UN platform to present distorted facts.
Referring to the added issue of American troops in the region, Moallem declared that the government would use all means possible to end the occupation of Syria by Turkish and American forces, calling the actions taken by these troops, both directly and indirectly, as void under international law. He also denounced Washington’s sanctions, claiming that they are disallowing the delivery of crucial medicine and health equipment during the pandemic. Further, he called the Caesar Act an “inhumane attempt to suffocate Syrians, just like George Floyd and others were cruelly suffocated in the United States, and just like Israel suffocates Palestinians on a daily basis.”
Moallem, who also serves as the regime’s deputy prime minister, called on all other countries affected by unilateral US sanctions to reject these measures and cooperate in closing ranks against those that impose them. On domestic matters, he affirmed that the Assad regime’s new committee to draft the country’s constitution would only succeed if foreign interference in its work is removed.
Syrian Foreign Minister Calls Turkey ‘Main Sponsor of Terror’ in UNGA Speech
He also slammed the US’ Caesar Act, likening it to police brutality against George Floyd.
September 29, 2020
Syrian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Walid al-Moallem. SOURCE: SANA VIA AP