Syria accuses Turkey of sponsoring ISIS amid new operation

The Syrian representative at the United Nations on Tuesday blasted Turkey for repeatedly violating its sovereignty and accused the country of sponsoring extremist organizations such as the Islamic State (ISIS), state media reported.

“Syria calls on UNSC [UN Security Council] to compel Turkish regime to end its illegal military presence on Syrian lands,” said Al-Hakam Dandi, the Syrian permanent representative to the UN.

Dandi added that “the pretexts marked by the Turkish regime to justify its attacks on Syrian territories are no longer tricking anyone, particularly in light of its persistence to back terrorist organizations and to sponsor ‘Daesh [ISIS]’ and ‘Jabhat al-Nusra [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham].’”

Turkey launched a new aerial campaign dubbed Operation Claw-Sword on November 20 targeting positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria as well as Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the Kurdistan Region.

At least 30 soldiers of the Syrian regime have been killed in the ongoing Turkish operation, according to figures by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Tuesday.

The SDF is a key US ally and held an instrumental role in defeating ISIS in Syria in 2019, reclaiming swathes of territory from the terror group as their backbone – the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – received worldwide recognition for their successful resistance to ISIS as the terror group pounded on the northern Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane in 2014.

Ankara has carried out three major military operations against the SDF in Syria since 2016, invading several Kurdish towns, such as Afrin, and Syrian armed groups, affiliated to Turkey, have been accused of committing human rights violations, killings and abductions as well as forcing the displacement of Kurds.

Source: Rudaw