Damascus 'Rejects' Watchdog Vote Curbing Chemical Exports to Syria

General photo of Syria's Bab al-Salam crossing  (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
General photo of Syria's Bab al-Salam crossing (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
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Damascus 'Rejects' Watchdog Vote Curbing Chemical Exports to Syria

General photo of Syria's Bab al-Salam crossing  (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
General photo of Syria's Bab al-Salam crossing (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

Syria's foreign ministry on Sunday lambasted a decision by the world's chemical weapons watchdog to limit chemical exports to the war-torn country.

"Syria rejects the resolution that was adopted" at the annual meeting Thursday of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a ministry statement said.

It slammed Western nations that put forward the resolution, saying the vote "reflects Western hatred towards developing countries".

On Thursday, a majority of OPCW member countries voted for "collective measures" to stop the transfer of certain chemicals and chemical-making technology to Syria.

It cited Syria's "continued possession and use of chemical weapons" and "its failures to submit an accurate and complete declaration and to destroy all its undeclared chemical weapons and production facilities".

Syria agreed in 2013 to join the world's chemicals watchdog following after an alleged chemical gas attack killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus.

But the OPCW, based in The Hague, has since accused the Damascus of carrying out a series of chemical attacks during the civil war.

The Syrian government has denied the allegations.

Syria's OPCW voting rights were suspended in 2021, an unprecedented rebuke, following poison gas attacks on civilians in 2017.

Damascus has also denied the accusations.

The Syrian civil war broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests, escalating into a deadly armed conflict involving foreign powers and global jihadist groups.

The war has killed more than half a million people and displaced half of the country's pre-war population.



Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Türkiye had the power and ability to "crush" all terrorists in Syria, including ISIS and Kurdish militants, while urging all countries to "take their hands off" Syria.

Since last month's fall of Bashar al-Assad, Türkiye has said repeatedly it was time for the Kurdish YPG militia to disband. Ankara considers the group, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist organization.

Ankara has said the new Syrian administration must be given an opportunity to address the YPG presence, but also threatened to mount a new cross-border operation against the militia based in northeast Syria if its demands are not met.

Speaking in parliament, Erdogan said the YPG was the biggest problem in Syria now, and added that the group would not be able to escape its inevitable end unless it lays down its arms.

"Regarding fabricated excuses like ISIS, these have no convincing side anymore," Erdogan said, referring to the US position that the YPG was a key partner against ISIS in Syria and that it plays a vital role guarding prison camps where the extremist militants are kept.

"If there is really a fear of the ISIS threat in Syria and the region, the biggest power that has the will and power to resolve this issue is Türkiye," he said.

"Everyone should take their hands off Syria and we, along with our Syrian siblings, will crush the heads of ISIS, the YPG and other terrorist organizations in a short time."

Türkiye has repeatedly asked its NATO ally the United States to halt support for the SDF, and has said the new administration in Syria had offered to take over the management of the prisons.