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Damascus Slams Western Delegations’ Illegal Entry into Northeastern Syria

Damascus Slams Western Delegations’ Illegal Entry into Northeastern Syria
folder_openSyria access_time2 years ago
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By Staff, Agencies

Syria strongly condemned the illegal entry of Western delegations from the Netherlands and France into troubled northeastern part of the country, which has been occupied by US-backed militants.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry official said in a statement on Sunday that the meetings between Western diplomats and the militants belonging to the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] "constitute flagrant violations of international law and a blatant attack on Syrian sovereignty."

According to the statement, a delegation from the Netherlands led by special envoy to Syria Emiel de Bont on Saturday entered the territory in collusion with the SDF under the pretext of receiving a number of Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group] terrorists of Western origin.

A French delegation also from the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation and the Paris City Council illegally visited the city of Qamishli in Hasakah province.

The ministry accused the French authorities and some other Western governments of their "direct involvement" in fueling militancy across Syria.

Thousands of Western citizens traveled to territories held by Daesh and joined their ranks in Syria and Iraq over the past years.

The SDF, which is sponsored by Washington, says that the camps in northeastern Syria holding more than 70,000 Daesh family members are a security threat and a burden.

European countries have been reluctant to repatriate their nationals living in such circumstances. A Dutch court ruled last year that authorities are not obliged to repatriate a group of 23 Dutch women and their 56 children currently imprisoned in northern Syria.

At least 220 children with Dutch nationality remain in Syria or Turkey, 75 percent of whom are under the age of four and were born in the region to parents with Dutch citizenship.

Elsewhere in the statement, the ministry also called for full withdrawal of Turkish forces, which have been providing support to militants operating to topple the Damascus government since early 2011.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.

Damascus says the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the Arab country.

Syrian government forces have retaken many areas once controlled by the terror outfits and are pressing ahead with their fight against the militants in their last bastions in the northwestern province of Idlib and areas in the neighboring Aleppo province.

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