US, Turkey must end illegal military presence in Syria: FM Muallem

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem has slammed as “illegal” the military presence of the US and Turkey in northern Syria, demanding an immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from his country.

According to Press TV, Muallem said in his address to the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on Saturday "The United States and Turkey maintain an illegal military presence in northern Syria."

“Any foreign forces operating in our territories without our authorization are occupying forces and must withdraw immediately,” he said, asserting, “If they refuse, we have the right to take any and all countermeasures authorized under international law.”

The United States has kept around 1,000 troops in Syria with the purported aim of tackling Daesh terrorists. Turkey, too, has already launched two military incursions into northern Syria to stop the advance of Daesh and Kurdish militants.

Muallem also criticized Ankara-Washington talks on establishing a so-called safe zone in the area, saying what they are planning is a “violation of international law and the UN Charter.”

Last month, the US and Turkey agreed to set up the buffer zone to the east of the Euphrates River between the Turkish border and Syrian areas controlled by US-backed Kurdish militias, which Ankara views as terrorists affiliated with the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group.

The zone is also said to be aimed at settling around one million displaced Syrians.

The Syrian government — which has authorized neither the Turkish nor the US military activities on its soil — has slammed the US-Turkish agreement, labeling it as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as international law.

Muallem also lashed out at Turkey for providing “terrorists with all forms of support, including weapons that are more sophisticated,” adding that Ankara’s action undermines all agreements reached during the Astana talks in Kazakhstan.

Muallem said that “any agreement about any part of Syria without the consent of its government is condemned and rejected” by Damascus.

He said a peace process should be owned and led by Syrians without any foreign interference.

Muallem said that "no deadlines" should be imposed on a constitution-writing committee formed to try to find a political settlement to the Arab country's foreign-backed conflict.

“The whole process should be owned and led by Syrians themselves who have the exclusive right of determining their country's future without any foreign intervention or interference,” he said.

"No preconditions must be imposed on the committee, nor should its recommendations be prejudged," Muallem added.

ME