The Syrian regime in Damascus has accused Turkey of being a state sponsor of terrorism in an address that is likely to only exacerbate tensions in the region.
The speech was made by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem at the United Nations General Assembly in which he accused Turkey of sponsoring terror groups and of committing war-crimes in the north of Syria, which Turkey invaded last year.
In the opening statement statement to the assembly meeting, which was held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic, he said Turkey was committing:
"A war crime and a crime against humanity."
He then went on to say that Turkey had allowed thousands of foreign fighters, many formerly aligned to ISIS, to enter Syria:
"[Turkey allowed] entry of tens of thousands of foreign terrorists into Syria and still offers all forms of support to Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organizations."
He also made clear that Syria will seek to remove all foreign interference in the country as soon as possible, including Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights.
In recent months Turkey has been accused by many human rights organisations of carrying out crimes against the mainly Kurdish population in Northern Syria, this includes the deliberate destruction of olive trees and the cutting off of the water supply to the region.
Turkey claims that its actions in Northern Syria are in order to fight terrorism. The Kurdish people who occupy the area have long fought for a homeland in both Turkey and Syria. After defeating ISIS, the Kurds have been able to carve out a semi-autonomous region, much like they have done so in Northern Iraq. Turkey however fears this region could be used as a base to advance Kurdish interests in Turkey.
Other political analysts fear that Turkey may be planning to relocate the 4 million refugees, mostly of Arab descent, that have fled into Turkey during the Syrian civil war, to Northern Syria and thereby ethnically replace the Kurdish population.
After over half-a-million deaths and millions of refugees, the Syrian state appears to have now won the civil war in which it fought against a range of different groups with different interests. However, the nation lies in complete ruin and it may be decades before it can return to the levels of prosperity it previously experienced.
COMMENTS