Russia, Turkey, and Iran jointly condemn US Golan move
The move 'constitutes a grave violation of int'l law and threatens peace and security in the Middle East'
Russia, Turkey, and Iran condemned Friday the US move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in a joint statement warning the declaration violated international law and threatens peace and security in the Middle East.
In the joint declaration released following the 12th round of meetings of the Astana peace process on Syria, the three guarantor countries reaffirmed their strong commitment “to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter."
Iran, Turkey, and Russia in the declaration “strongly condemned the decision of the U.S. administration to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which constitutes a grave violation of international law, particularly the U.N. Security Council resolution 497, and threatens peace and security in the Middle East,” the statement following the 12th Astana talks said.
During the talks held in the newly re-named Kazakhstan capital of Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana), officials from Turkey, Russia, and Iran discussed northwestern Syria's Idlib province and efforts to draft a new Syrian constitution.
To the dismay and fury of Syria and its regional allies, US President Donald Trump in March signed an official declaration recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights territory seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community.
Breaking with longstanding international consensus and US policy, Trump tweeted that it was "time" to recognize Israeli sovereignty "which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and regional stability."
Condemnations of the US move were swift and numerous from the international community after Trump announced his decision to abruptly shift the US policy of over thirty years.
Slammed by Syria as a “blatant attack on their sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the move was met with wide-ranging opposition on the international scene.
Damascus and its allies in the region said it violates international law. France and Russia said the same.
Under international law, the area remains disputed territory following Israel's occupation of the plateau during the Six Day war.
It was officially annexed in 1981 and has been a stumbling block in the conflict with northern neighbor Syria.
The Golan Heights decision is the latest major move in favor of Israel by Trump, who in 2017 recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as the country's capital.
Israel long urged the US to recognize its sovereignty over the mountainous Golan Heights region.
With more than 20,000 people living in the area now, and unlike the West Bank or Gaza, most Israelis would find it difficult to believe that the Golan is anything else but Israel.
Besides security considerations, the Golan is slowly becoming a touristic destination, with the Hermon mountain, Israel's only skiing resort, the jewel in the crown.
posted by Satish Sharma at
19:37
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