Mr. President,
I congratulate you and the friendly Republic of Indonesia for presiding over the Security Council for the current month, and I also extend my deep condolences to my colleague, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation and his friendly country, for the painful incident that occurred yesterday, and led to the death of a major general and the injury of two soldiers of the Russian army by an explosive device planted by terrorists, as their convoy was targeted after its return from a humanitarian mission in the Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor.
Mr. President,
Since the Security Council endorsed the political process as a base for resolving the crisis in my country, some of the Permanent Members of this Council have endeavored to undermine this approach day after day, month after month, and year after year to the extent that these same Members have, unfortunately, started misusing the Council to practically support the terrorist war on Syria, and justify their occupation of its lands and their unbridled investment in terrorism.
Every time we submitted a complaint to you or informed you of facts about acts of support for terrorism, aggression, occupation, plunder and destruction of the resources of my country, the more Western pressure increased to deflect the efforts of the Security Council and prevent it from carrying out its role in preserving the provisions of the Charter and ensuring respect for the content of its own resolutions relevant to the situation in Syria, foremost of which is ensuring the full commitment to its sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
This only raises so many questions: what has the Security Council done to end the American occupation of parts of my country? What has it done to put an end to the Turkish occupation and the practices of the terrorism-sponsoring Erdogan Regime? What steps have been taken by your Council to support the efforts of the Syrian State and its allies in combating terrorism, and facing the tens of thousands of "terrorists without borders- also known in UN language as foreign terrorist fighters- and holding the Governments recruiting, funding and supporting them accountable?
Mr. president,
At a time when Members of the Security Council pledged at the outset of their resolutions relevant to the situation in my country to a strong commitment to respect the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, the US occupation forces, in full view of the United Nations and the international community, took a new step to plunder Syria’s natural resources, including Syrian oil and gas. Recently, the US company "Crescent Delta Energy", with the sponsorship and support of the US Administration, has entered into a contract with the so-called “Syrian Democratic Forces/SDF” separatist militia, an agent of the US occupation forces in northeastern Syria, with the aim of stealing Syrian oil and depriving the Syrian state and Syrian people of the basic revenues necessary to improve the humanitarian situation, provide for livelihood needs and reconstruction.
Imagine, ladies and gentlemen, an unknown company born out of nowhere, headed by US previous ambassador in Denmark, James Keen, a retired American Delta force officer named James Reese, and an oil expert. All of this with the blessing of the American Administration, which has actually established this company.
This hostile American behavior towards Syria, which contradicts with international law, the Charter of the United Nation, and the Security Council's resolutions, did not come as a surprise, as the US Administration had facilitated the possession and trafficking of the terrorist organization ISIS with the looted Syrian oil and its smuggling to Turkey in cooperation with the terrorism-sponsoring Erdogan regime. Furthermore, the US Administration has continued, through its illegal alliance, to launch repeated attacks on The Syrian Arab Army forces to prevent them from liberating the areas occupied by the terrorist organization ISIS in northeastern Syria.
Just two days ago, two American military helicopters attacked a checkpoint of the Syrian Arab Army southeast of Qamishli, killing one soldier and wounding two others.
We all remember the sinful attack by the American occupation forces on the sites of the Syrian Arab Army in Al-Tharda Mountain in Deir- Ezzor on September 17th, 2016, to enable the terrorist organization ISIS to control these sites.
Furthermore, US President Donald Trump previously announced on 27/10/2019 that he “intends to conclude a deal with an American company to go to Syria and obtain its share of Syrian oil!” Trump reaffirmed his endeavor on 01/11/2019 by announcing his intention to keep Syrian oil because he “loves oil!” It is well known to all that the US Administration had allowed US oil companies, whose work was supervised by former US Vice President Dick Cheney, to extract Syrian oil from the occupied Syrian Golan in a flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. Here, we ask: Does this express the respect of the United States, the hosting country of the United Nations Headquarters, and a Permanent Member of the Security Council that is entrusted with contributing to the maintenance of international peace and security, of international law, the United Nations Charter, and a political solution in Syria?
Mr. President,
The recent period has also witnessed the American Creative International Associates concluding a cooperation agreement with the so-called “Civil Council in Deir Ezzor City,” which operates under the umbrella of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” militias. These are the same militias that issued a few days ago the so-called “protection and management of absentee property law”, which aims at looting the property of Syrians who were displaced due to concerted efforts of ISIS and SDF in changing the demographic composition of these areas.
Is this agreement sponsored by the American administration and its occupying forces consistent with the commitment to the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of my country? The shameful record of the United States of America against dozens of member states in this organization answers this question and shows the lack of belief of American administrations in the principles and purposes of this international organization.
My country, the Syrian Arab Republic, condemns these practices and any similar acts or suspicious deals that take place with proxy militias and terrorist entities or artificial bodies that do not have any legal capacity or status. Syria affirms that these practices are null, void and have no legal effect as they constitute a shameless assault against the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and resources of its people. The late international law must be now turning in its grave, lamenting such behavior.
Mr. President,
For its part, the Turkish regime continues its practices that aim at strengthening its occupation of parts of my country. The Turkish regime is trying to change legal, demographic, economic and financial character of these occupied territories by the Turkification and displacement of inhabitants, plundering their real estates and property, imposing the use of Turkish currency, and naming squares and streets after Turkish and Ottoman figures. The Turkish regime even used Ottoman names for terrorist organizations and entities that it supervises, operates, and invests in its foreign wars in Libya and elsewhere as well. To name a few of these terrorist groups that have historic Ottoman names: “Sultan Murad Brigade”, “Sultan Muhammad Al Fateh Brigade” and “Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement” and others.
These are the tip of the iceberg of the crimes perpetrated by the Erdogan regime, that has never respected its pledges under the Astana Accords and the Sochi understandings, and committed every single prescribed crime such as: supporting terrorism, facilitating the infiltration of foreign terrorist fighters into Syria, supplying terrorist organizations with toxic chemicals to use against civilians and fabricating accusations against the Syrian Government. The Turkish regime has launched acts of aggression and occupation, including the aggression against the city of Kassab and the so-called "Operation Peace Spring" and the Turkish military incursion into north and northwestern Syria, looting the factories and property of the Syrians in Aleppo and its countryside, and burning or looting agricultural crops, and trading with ISIS and terrorist organizations in oil and looted antiquities, and others.
At the time this session is being held, more than a million Syrians from Al-Hasakah and its countryside live without drinking water in light of intense heat and fear of the outbreak of the Corona virus. This is all a result of this council's silence on the Turkish regime's continued use of water as a weapon of war against civilians, by cutting drinking water off Alouk station for more than / 15 / times, for periods ranging between two and ten days, and by reducing its production capacity to its minimum levels. How long will your council remain silent in the face of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Erdogan? Do you have an answer?
The Syrian Arab Republic reiterates that the presence of the Turkish military forces on Syrian territory is an act of aggression, occupation and a gross violation of the principles of international law, the provisions of the United Nations Charter and the principles of friendly relations and good neighborliness between adjacent countries. My country also affirms that the Turkish regime confiscating and annexing swaths of Syrian lands and building what is called a separation wall on them will not change the legal status of these lands and their belonging to the Syrian Arab Republic, nor will it lead in any way to affect the legal and sovereign rights of the Syrian Arab Republic or is a precursor to any future binary demarcation. The Turkish regime's shielding behind its NATO membership in order to antagonize the neighboring countries and violate the sovereign rights of these countries increases the responsibility of this alliance for the absence of stability in the entire Mediterranean region and raises escalation to unprecedented levels.
Mr. President,
The National Delegation continues its preparations to participate in the next round of meetings of the Constitutional Committee, which will be held in Geneva a few days later.
We reaffirm that this process is and must always be Syrian-led, Syrian-owned, without any external interference, and that the foundations that have been agreed upon and the terms of reference that have been reached must be upheld and respected and not allowed to be manipulated to divert it from its assigned tasks and goals under any pretext.
Yes, we say it over and over again that the solution is political and exclusively Syrian owned without any foreign interference. A solution whom Syrians themselves set its parameters in order to protect their country from vultures lurking in it, not according to criteria set by the American administration and Erdogan who attack Syria and occupy its precious territories.
It seems from the statement of my colleague, the American permanent representative that her administration’s policy towards my country is based on settling scores with any country standing with my country against the conspiracy targeting Syria and these same countries. Therefore, it is not strange that the American representative would start her statement speaking about Iran as if the subject of today’s meeting is discussing the predicament of the American Administration after its withdrawal from Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action known for short as JCPOA.
Mr. President,
The Syrian Arab Republic renews, once again, its demand for the Secretary-General and the Security Council to take urgent action in response to the complaint submitted on 31/5/2020, condemning the acts of aggression, occupation and external interference in the internal affairs of Syria, as well as the disastrous effects of unilateral coercive measures imposed by the US Administration and the European Union despite the pleas of the Secretary-General and the Special Envoy and many others. These measures prevent the Syrians from obtaining their basic needs of food, medicine and medical equipment, especially in light of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its dire impacts. They also represent a crime of deliberate killing of the people of the countries affected by these sanctions.
A final friendly word for the special envoy Mr. Pederson, I heard him describing in his statement the American occupation forces as “the International Coalition forces”!
Naturally, the late international law, the martyred Charter, the envoy himself, the Council, and me, all of us know that the presence of the American forces in my country is illegitimate and mere occupation. Therefore, I call upon my friend Pederson to reconsider the use of this term.