MINISTERS of Group 77 (coalition of developing countries at the United Nations) and China last Saturday reiterated their demand for the Israeli occupation to immediately and completely withdraw from Occupied Syrian Golan and occupied Arab territories.
During their meeting in New York, and with the participation of Syria’s Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister, Bassam Sabbagh, the group ministers adopted a declaration on the occasion of 60th anniversary of the establishment of the group.
‘They strongly condemned the aggression carried out by Israeli occupation last July on Majdal Shams village in occupied Syrian Golan, causing the martyrdom of 12 Syrian children,’ the declaration said.
They also condemned the Israeli attacks on Syrian civilian facilities and residential buildings, which is considered a violation of United Nations Charter principles, reiterating their rejection of unilateral coercive economic measures imposed on the country and underlining the necessity to lift them immediately.
The ministers called for an immediate dismantling of all illegitimate settlements in occupied Golan, condemning also Israeli practices aimed at making a demographic change there and in occupied Palestinian territories, stressing such unilateral measures are null and void in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
They also expressed deep concern over serious violations of international law and international humanitarian law committed by Israel in occupied Palestinian territory and Lebanon, calling on the Security Council to assume its responsibilities in accordance with the UN Charter.
Sabbagh held a meeting with his Belarusian Counterpart Maxim Ryzhelkov at the UN headquarters in New York, with whom he discussed various areas of cooperation between the two sides and ways to follow up and implement them, in particular the holding of meetings of the joint governmental committee between the two countries.
The two ministers stressed the importance of intensifying communication, coordination and the exchange of support regarding international issues of common interest at the UN.
Sabbagh also discussed with Badr Albusaidi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, fraternal relations between the two countries and efforts to strengthen them.
Al-Busaidi expressed his country’s support for all efforts aimed at achieving peace and stability in Syria.
Minister Sabbagh also discussed with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani ways to ‘consolidate cooperation relations between the two brotherly countries and enhance joint communication and coordination on various issues of common interest.’
In this regard, the two ministers affirmed their desire to strengthen fraternal relations between the two countries in a way that serves their common interests and goals.
Sabbagh also discussed bilateral issues with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi, where they affirmed their willingness to develop cooperation relations between them in a way that serves both countries’ interests.
The Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Minister, also on Saturday, discussed bilateral cooperation and relations with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, especially in the economic field, pointing out the importance of holding meetings of the joint governmental committee between Russia and Syria as soon as possible.
During their meeting in New York, the two sides discussed their joint efforts within the framework of the UN and other multilateral bodies to confront the West’s collective attempts to undermine the provisions of the United Nations Charter.
The two ministers also discussed the current situation in the Middle East in light of the recent Israeli escalation in Lebanon, the continuous attacks on Syrian territory as well as the continuation of the war on the Palestinian people.
In this regard, the two sides agreed on the need to fully adhere to the principles of international law, the provisions and principles of the United Nations Charter, and respect sovereignty of states and the unity and integrity of their territories.
During the meeting, Ministers Sabbagh and Lavrov signed a joint declaration on ‘Ways to Confront and Mitigate the Negative Effects of Unilateral Coercive Measures.’
This included, among other things, an affirmation that any state’s resort to unilateral coercive measures is illegal, inconsistent with the UN Charter and the provisions of international law, and entails international responsibility.
The Declaration strongly urged States to refrain from adopting, issuing or imposing unilateral coercive measures that prevent the full achievement of economic and social development, particularly in developing countries.
The declaration called for developing a roadmap to reduce the dependence of international trade on national currencies that may be used to implement unilateral coercive measures or to support the monetary dominance of a particular country over the global economy, and to hold the affected country responsible for compensation for damages for economic or financial losses resulting from the imposition of unilateral coercive measures.
- Representatives of Turkey and Syria are putting forward ideas for the dialogue on normalisation of relations, including those related to the Kurdish issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference to sum up the results of his participation in the High-Level Week of the 79th UN General Assembly.
Lavrov said: ‘I talked to my Turkish counterpart a short while ago here, and we discussed this. I also discussed this with the newly appointed foreign minister of the Syria Arab Republic.
‘Both sides came up with ideas, which, in my opinion, may allow the resumption of the process (of normalisation). And, of course, the Kurdish issue will be in the spotlight of these talks, along with anti-terrorism and border security matters.’
He added: ‘We had meetings on Syrian-Turkish normalisation last year. The military and foreign ministers met in the Russia-Iran-Turkey-Syria format. The meetings were positive.’
Lavrov also noted that Kurdish organisations need to strongly reject terrorism and engage in dialogue with Damascus.
He said: ‘I am convinced that Kurdish organisations should strongly reject terrorism and realise, at last, that they have no other choice but to remain a part of the Syrian republic.
‘They need to come to terms with Damascus and, as I understand, their Turkish neighbours are ready to help them,’ Lavrov added.
On June 28, the Turkish president announced his willingness to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus, which had been severed in 2012.
On July 12, he instructed Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet with his counterparts and develop a roadmap for the normalisation process.
According to Erdogan, Syria’s territorial integrity is a key interest for Turkey.
Russia will work to prevent the Middle East conflict from spilling into other countries, Lavrov added.
He said: ‘As to how to prevent the conflict from spilling into other countries, this is what we can do and will keep doing.
‘We have a military force in the Syrian Arab Republic, which helps to maintain security, and it will continue to perform its duties.’
‘But, again, I have a feeling that some players are willing to provoke Iran in order to then provoke the United States and unleash a huge all-out war in the entire region,’ Lavrov warned.
- The Iraqi resistance has announced it has attacked a vital target of the Israeli enemy in Umm al-Rashrash ‘Eilat’ in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a statement, the resistance said: ‘In continuation of our approach in resisting the occupation, and in support of our people in Palestine and Lebanon, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against civilians, including children, women and the elderly, our fighters attacked a vital target in Umm al-Rashrash “Eilat” in our occupied territories on Sunday morning, using drones.’
It stressed its determination to continue and step up its operations to destroy the enemy’s strongholds.
The Iraqi resistance targeted several sites of the Israeli enemy in the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Syrian Golan on Friday.