Ambassador Dr. Bashar Ja’afari

The Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic

At the meeting of the Security Council

on the Agenda Item

“The Situation in the Middle East”

New York 05/18/2020                           

Mr. President,

          A few days ago, your Council virtually celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of victory over Nazism and Fascism in the Second World War. Victors , us included, pledged to make concerted efforts in order to maintain international peace and security, and spare humanity  from the ravages of war which brought about twice over scourges that were more horrifying than the Black Plague that invaded Europe and the world in the medieval centuries.

          That led to the birth of the United Nations whose Charter enshrines the international legal framework and fundamental principles of the structure of international relations manifested in respecting the sovereignty and sovereign equality among member states and refraining from interfering in internal affairs of member states and from threatening or using force.

          Today, seventy-five years after the collapse of the ideologies of extremist regimes that have precedented the emergence of ISIS, al-Qaeda and “al-Nusra Front” in our region, regimes which were based on acts of aggression, hegemonic ambitions, discriminatory practices, and hatred, we are witnessing the systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international law and the provisions of the Charter by the Governments of some Western states, which were supposed to have experienced the two world wars and realized their impacts and, therefore, were entrusted with the maintenance of international peace and security. However, those very same Governments have systematically violated the basic principles of international law and the provisions of the Charter and sought to undermine the choices of the peoples of member States through acts of military invasion, armed aggression, investment in terrorism and economic and financial coercion. These practices are a consecration of the law of power and the law of the jungle rather than the power of law and the power of justice.

          Moreover, we express our concern, condemnation and disapproval of the distortion of facts about the Second World War voiced out by two Permanent Members of the Security Council who deny the more than 27 million martyrs the Soviet Union, and its successor, The Russian Federation, has lost in the war on Nazism. Whoever has the audacity to do this will not find it difficult to distort the facts about Syria’s struggle and that of its people, army, and leadership against terrorism.

          For its part, my country, Syria, still believes in the purposes and principles of the United Nations on which it signed alongside the rest of the founding member states in San Francisco. Today, and every day, Syria is committed to maintain its sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity that were emphasized in your Council’s relevant resolutions.

Mr. President,

          The Turkish regime continues to violate its obligations under international law, Adana agreement, Sochi, Astana, and Moscow understandings as well as Security Council resolutions especially those related to combating terrorism. This regime persists in providing multifaceted support and sponsorship to its affiliated terrorist groups operating in different parts of North Syria.

These terrorist groups have taken advantage of the calm period following the Moscow agreement and the global preoccupation with efforts to confront the COVID-19 pandemic to reorganize their forces and increase their armament in preparation for committing more terrorist crimes. The latest of which was when the terrorist groups affiliated with “Hurras Al-Deen” and the “Turkestan Islamic Party” (As it is clear, these terrorist organizations do not even have Arabic names, but rather names associated with the Ottoman era and their Turkish operator) attacked one of the military points in the village of Tanjara near Al-Ghab region in the northwest, and targeted it with a barrage of mortar shells and machine gun fire, which led to a number of  martyrs and wounded soldiers. Likewise, the terrorists of the Turkish-backed “Turkestan Islamic Party” destroyed the tower of the Zayzoun power plant in Idlib countryside after they had looted, in cooperation with Turkish technicians, the equipment of the station and transported it into Turkish territory through the crossings that some in the United Nations promote as “humanitarian”. In addition to that, the Turkish regime violated the International Telecommunication Union “ITU” convention and constitution by installing a number of cellular communications stations inside Syrian territory and providing Internet coverage and cellular communications, particularly to terrorist organizations, in northern Syria through a Turkish Internet service provider called HAT-net, and a Turkish telecommunications company called e-LUX.                  Furthermore, the cutting off of water from al-Allouk Station, which is controlled by the Turkish occupying forces and their affiliated terrorist groups, and the denial of drinking water to the more than one million citizens of Hasakeh and its vicinity, is a war crime and a crime against humanity. We are saddened that those who claim to stand up for the right of Syrians to regain their security and daily livelihood, whether they were Western countries, OCHA or the specialized agencies of the United Nations, have not said a word to condemn these inhumane practices.

On the other hand, the American occupation forces have begun to establish a new military base in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor governorate in northeastern Syria with the aim of tightening their control over Syrian oil fields and continuing to plunder the resources of the Syrian people. The period since the Special Envoy’s last briefing has also witnessed military attacks carried out by the Israeli occupying forces from over the occupied Syrian Golan and the airspace of neighboring countries.

These acts of aggression comprising flagrant violations of international law and the provisions of the Charter, are the tip of the iceberg of aggressive practices which aim at prolonging the crisis in my country, obstructing settlement efforts and supporting terrorist organizations and proxy separatist militias. As usual, under pressure from its three Western Permanent Members, the Security Council has remained silent in the face of such actions that threaten regional and international peace and security, seeking to render the Council a platform for NATO, which threatens to undermine the foundations of the multilateral international order and bring it back to the pre-Second World War era. There are currently six NATO member states in the Security Council, and with Turkey in this session the number becomes seven, about half of the members of the Security Council!

In this context, my Delegation reiterates that we will not give up our legitimate right to defend our homeland and its resources, combat terrorism and liberate our occupied territories, whether occupied by the United States, Turkey, Israel or their affiliated terrorist organizations. Any presence of foreign military forces on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic without the explicit consent of the Syrian Government is aggression and occupation, and will be dealt with as such in accordance with our national Constitution and our rights under international law.

Mr. President,

The success of any political process requires the provision of appropriate conditions, notably respect for the first paragraph of your resolutions, which affirms the strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. Such a commitment requires an end to the illegal foreign military presence, acts of aggression, support for terrorism, unilateral coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people, and a cessation of hostile States to Syria of their efforts to impose their visions, intransigence and conditions on the Syrian people.

My country is a victim of unprecedented and prescribed terrorism sponsored by member States of Council and beyond in order to obtain political concessions commensurate with its interventionist agendas in the internal affairs of the States of the region. This explains the frantic attempt to invade states in the region and to attempt to change the legitimate governments by force and impose new facts on the ground with the aim of undermining the possibility of establishing a Palestinian State, sustaining the Israeli occupation of the occupied Syrian Golan and passing the illusion of the so-called Deal of the Century promoted by the American administration.

Mr. President,

The tyranny of power and investment in terrorism will not lead us to drink from the river of madness. We have been and continue to be a safety valve for stability and moderation in the region, and our strong attachment to our sovereignty and independence reflects our true understanding of the victory over Nazism and Fascism in the Second World War.

In conclusion, it is very unfortunate that I have not heard from the Special Envoy or some Council Members any comments about condemning the Turkish regimes cutting off of water in Al-hasakah city for the third time this month. It is also very unfortunate that I have not heard any comment from the Special Envoy or some Council Members on how the hooligans of the Turkish regime affiliated with Hurras Al-deen terrorist group blew up the electricity station in Zaizon located in Idleb countryside after they looted its equipment and transported it to the Turkish territories in order to be sold as scrap.

It is very unfortunate that I have not heard from the Special Envoy or some Council Members any comments on how the American occupation is stealing the Syrian gas and oil around the clock. Furthermore, the American air force just yesterday dropped hot air balloons on farms in Al- Shaddady town southern of Al-Hasaka, that led to burning over 200 hectares of farms planted with wheat.

I thank you, Mr. President.