Islam Times - Syria Condemns Illegal Entry of Dutch, French Delegations into Areas Held by SDF Militants

Syria Condemns Illegal Entry of Dutch, French Delegations into Areas Held by SDF Militants

Islam Times - Syrian Foreign Ministry has strongly denounced illegal entry of western delegations from the Netherlands and France into troubled northeastern Syria which has been occupied by US-backed Kurdish militants.

A Syrian official from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement on Sunday that the meetings between Western diplomats and the Kurdish militants "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 Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under the pretext of receiving a number of Daesh terrorists of western origin. A French delegation also from the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation and the Paris City Council illegally visited the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Hasakah province.

The ministry charged the French authorities and some other western governments with 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.

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.

The statement also reiterated determination to extend the Arab state’s sovereignty over all its territory and liberate them from Turkish, US, and other foreign occupying countries.

“Syria called on the International Community particularly UN and its organs to take the appropriate stance towards these practices and to force the governments of those countries hostile to Syria to abandon their subversive policies aimed at impeding the return of security and stability to Syria,” the statement said.

The Kurdish militants - with the help of less than 1,000 American troops - still control a quarter of Syrian territory.

In recent months, people in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah have staged demonstrations to denounce the Turkish illegal military deployment to their area, in addition to the presence of the SDF and arbitrary practices of the US-backed militants.

Security conditions are reportedly deteriorating in the areas controlled by the SDF in Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr provinces.