Syria
Fighters of Jaysh al-Izza, a formerly US-backed Syrian rebel group active in northern Hama governorate and parts of Idlib, take part in a military show during their graduation ceremony at a training camp near the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Idlib province and Turkey on July 18, 2019. Photo: Aaref Watad | AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed its "strong condemnation" of the Turkish an US "interference" in the country while calling their actions violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a statement from its foreign affairs ministry.
“Syria expresses strong condemnation of the continued destructive US interference in its affairs as it aims at prolonging and complicating the crisis," the statement reported by state-run SANA news agency said on Friday.
SANA reported it was provided the statement by an official source in the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry.
“Syria, which has been confronting all forms of terrorism for eight years, reaffirms the continued efforts to chase down the remnants of terrorism until it is completely eradicated from all Syrian territories along with the efforts exerted to confront all the separatist propositions, which threaten Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the report continued.
The statement from Damascus made no mention of specific recent events. However, several dangerous and deadly incidents have continued as the Syrian conflict enters its ninth year.
On Friday, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet condemned "international indifference" in the face of the mounting death toll in government air strikes. She pointed to OCHA's findings on rebel-held Idlib, backed by Turkey.
Aid groups have called the area in northwest it a "nightmare," where more than 400,000 people have fled due to violence since the end of April when Russian-negotiated peace talks failed. An estimated 740 civilians have died, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog opposed to the regime.
Another recent example is the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) rocket attack originating from a Syrian border town that injured five people in a nearby town in Turkey on Monday. SDF security arrested the suspected perpetrator.
Yet another is Turkey's expected imminent offensive against the US-led international coalition supported SDF in Kobane, or joint US-Turkish efforts to organize joint patrols in northern Syria to better coordinate and de-escalate tensions, particularly between the Turkish military and the predominately-Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG).
To that end, US Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey met with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and other top officials this week in Ankara.
“Both countries’ military authorities began the joint work today at MSB in Ankara to establish a planned safe zone in northern Syria in a coordinated way,” the Turkish Defense Ministry tweeted on Tuesday.
“The meetings between Turkish and American military authorities will continue in the coming days, as planned,” it added.
As Jeffrey was meeting with Turkish military officials, Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), was meeting with SDF commanders.
The YPG are the backbone of the SDF; however, Ankara considers them to be the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The SDF and YPG deny the allegation.
Estimates range from 400,000-500,000 people killed because of the Syrian conflict that began in 2011. It exasperated by the rise and demise of the Islamic State (ISIS) from 2014-2018 east of the Euphrates. However the group claimed its first deadly car bomb attack in the Syrian capital in a year on Monday.
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