On Sunday, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said that Turkey is one of the main sponsors of terror in his country and the region, accusing it of committing a war crime and a crime against humanity for cutting water to more than a dozen towns that resisted Turkish occupation.
In his speech at the first-ever UN General Assembly held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, al-Moallem accused Turkey of moving thousands of terrorists and mercenaries — referred by some as the “moderate opposition”– from Syria to Libya, violating Iraq’s sovereignty, using refugees as bargaining chips against Europe and laying claim by force to energy resources in the Mediterranean.
He added that the current Turkish regime has become a rogue and outlaw regime under international law, noting that Turkish policies and actions threaten the security and stability of the whole region, and must therefore be stopped.
The nine-year Syrian conflict, which initially began as a civil war, has become a regional proxy fight. Turkey, which now controls a zone in northern Syria, has backed opposition fighters against Syrian President Bashar Assad, Syrian Kurdish fighters and the Islamic State extremist group.
Al-Moallem also declared that the Syrian government “will spare no effort to end the occupation” of American and Turkish forces “by all means possible under international law.”
“The actions of these forces, taken directly or through their terrorist agents, secessionist militias, or manufactured and illegitimate entities, are null and void, with no legal effect,” he said.