SYRIA’s Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi on Wednesday met Iraqi Water Resources Minister Mohsen al-Shummari, discussing with him means to expand cooperation and establish joint projects.
Premier al-Halaqi stressed the need to boost political, economic, and commercial relations between the two countries and to find new ways to bolster security in them, particularly since both countries are being targeted by terrorism being funded by the same sides.
He said that the neo-Ottomans headed by President Erdogan seek to occupy the region with pointless war in order for Turkey to lord over the region, asserting that Syria and Iraq have legal and natural rights to the water of the Euphrates River which Turkey has no right to deny, infringe upon, or appropriate, affirming that Turkey must abide by international accords in this regard
For his part, al-Shummari said that Iraq is committed to boosting cooperation on all levels and that the Syrians and the Iraqis will vanquish terrorism and restore security to the region. He relayed a message from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi which asserted the Iraqi government’s commitment to boosting military and security coordination to confront terrorism.
Minister of Water Resources Dr Kamal al-Sheikha on Tuesday had met his Iraqi counterpart Mohsin Al-Shammari and discussed the decreased flow of water from Turkey to Iraq and Syria, and Turkey’s violation of the laws and regulations governing the water shares.
Minister al-Sheikha stressed that the amount of water passing to Syria from Jarabulus was 330 cubic metres per second in the last six months, which is 40% less than the due share, adding that the amount of water passed from al-Baath dam in Syria to Iraq is 166 cubic metres per second, which is approximately the share of Iraq according to the relevant agreements.
The two sides also discussed cooperation in the field of study and exchanging expertise and agreed on expanding the cooperation in all fields. Meanwhile, local residents of the occupied Syrian Golan on Tuesday staged a sit-in at Sultan Basha al-Atrash Square in Majdal Shams in Golan in condemnation of the crimes of the terrorist groups in Syria.
The event started by a moment of silence followed by the Syrian anthem. Speeches stressed the importance of adhering to the homeland and firmness in countering terrorists and external schemes.
In a statement, the people of Golan reiterated their adherence to their Syrian identity until the occupied lands are liberated.
They said the crimes which were committed at Qalb al-Louz area in al-Summaq Mount in Idlib unmask the reality of all sides which spared no effort in supporting and funding these terrorists, expressing their faith in the ability of the Syrian Army in defending the homeland and eliminating terrorists.
Also on Tuesday, the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry sent two identical letters to the UN Secretary-General and the head of the Security Council regarding the terrorist attacks that targeted Aleppo city on Monday, claiming the lives of scores of innocent civilians. The letters said that Aleppo and its peaceful people were targeted by another heinous crime on Monday at the hands of terrorist organisations which are called ‘moderate armed opposition’ by their supporters.
These terrorists fired more than one hundred rocket shells blindly and indiscriminately at the neighbourhoods of al-Sirian, al-Sirian al-Jadideh, al-Aziziye, al-Rashdin, Salaheddin, al-Ismailiye, Nile Street, the surroundings of Sheihan Hospital, and al-Sabil housings in city. The Ministry said that these attacks claimed the lives of 36 civilians, 12 of them children, and injured more than 120 others, most of them women and children.
It added that the death toll is likely to increase due to the critical nature of some of the injuries the victims sustained, adding that the attacks also caused massive material damage to residential buildings and public and private properties. The letters said that this new massacre is the latest in a series of methodical terrorist acts that have been targeting Syria for over four years, and that they constitute a vindictive act of revenge against the people of Aleppo who stood against terrorism and refused to abandon their homes.
The Ministry said that the terrorists of the so-called ‘moderate armed opposition’ aren’t the only sides responsible for this crime, as responsibility falls on the regimes in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, and Israel that support, fund, harbour, train, and arm them. This is with these regimes turning a blind eye to the Security Council resolutions on counterterrorism while other Security Council members and the international community remain suspiciously silent to a degree that borders on complicity with these terrorist groups and shows that some continue to employ policies of double standards when it comes to counterterrorism.
The Ministry said that the ongoing politicisation of the crisis in Syria and the double standards employed in this context are no longer acceptable now that everyone has become aware of the barbarism and brutality of terrorist organisations and their crimes against Syria and its people, civilisation, and culture. The Ministry added that the false allegations about the presence of a ‘moderate armed opposition’ that some are seeking desperately to promote are also unacceptable.
The Ministry went on to say that the international community must stand as one to cooperate and coordinate with the Syrian government which has been fighting terrorism for years on behalf of the people of the region and the world and in defence of human existence, and the values of justice and freedom. It added that all Security Council resolutions on counterterrorism, specifically resolutions nos. 2170, 2178, and 2199, must be put into effect.
The letters concluded by saying that the Syrian government is committed to continue its battle against terrorism in Syria and to defending its people as per its constitutional responsibilities. The letters said that the Syrian government calls on the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General to denounce the recent terrorist attacks in Aleppo, refer to things by their proper and real designations, and take fundamental deterrent steps against terrorist organisations and the states that support and sponsor them.
Earlier, Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi affirmed on Monday that the crime in Aleppo today adds to the record of crimes perpetrated by terrorist organisations of the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Jabhat al-Nusra and so-called ‘al-Fatah army’ in many regions in the north of Syria. The terrorism happening in Syria is related to Erdogan, his party and government, Qatari and Saudi rulers, Israel, France and the US,’ al-Zoubi told Syrian TV in a telephone call.
He added that targeting students of the holy Quran at al-Rahman mosque with rocket shells indicates the features of those terrorist killers and their hostility to tolerant Islam. The aim of the massacres is to intimidate the people and target their struggle and adherence to the Homeland,’ al-Zoubi said, adding that if the purpose of terrorism and their supporters was to make Syrians afraid and escape their homes, they were mistaken ‘as we will not leave this place’.
