GCC, Turkey deplore UN inaction in Syria

Foreign ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council states and Turkey on Thursday called for urgent intervention of the UN in Syria to stop the killing of innocent people. 

They strongly advocated the need for the speedy implementation of the UNSC resolution, calling for the unimpeded and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to all Syrian cities. 

The GCC and Turkish ministers met in Riyadh within the framework of the GCC-Turkey Strategic Dialogue. 

On the sidelines of the meeting, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman received Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, and held talks with them on bilateral and regional issues. 

The Turkish ministers later attended the ministerial meeting at the GCC General Secretariat. 

In a major development, the GCC foreign ministers designated the network led by US-based cult leader Fethullah Gulen as a terrorist organization. The ministers also condemned “indiscriminate” airstrikes on Syria’s Aleppo and expressed “deep regrets” at the inability of the UN and the international community to stop the raids. 

They expressed concerns over the large-scale offensive coordinated by Russian and Syrian warplanes, which have ruthlessly attacked rebel-controlled Aleppo. 

Addressing a joint press conference with Cavusoglu after the GCC-Turkey ministerial meeting, Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir called on “Iran and Iraq to refrain from promoting sectarianism in the region.” 

A joint communique issued by the GCC General Secretariat after the meeting stressed “the need to dry up funding to terrorism, as well as their commitment to combat radical ideology of the terrorist groups.” 

The statement also supported the French initiative and international efforts aimed at “settling the Palestinian issue and establishing the independent sovereign state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

On the urgent need to restore peace and security in the region, the communique underlined the importance of making the Middle East, including the Gulf region, a WMD-free zone, including nuclear weapons. 

“The ministers emphasized the right of countries of the region to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and ensure that Iran sign all nuclear safety treaties,” it added.

 

Strategic Dialogue

The GCC and Turkish foreign ministers, who met here at the GCC General Secretariat within the framework of the “GCC-Turkey Strategic Dialogue,” also reaffirmed “their complete rejection of the use



of Iraqi territory as a safe haven for terrorist groups to carry out terror attacks including smuggling of weapons and explosives.”

The ministers expressed grave concern about “Iraq’s move to involve sectarian militia forces, which perpetrated revenge attacks, mass killings and abuses against the local populations of the liberated areas, in the imminent Mosul operation, which might compromise the sustainable success of the operation and trigger sectarian conflict.”

Al-Jubeir urged Iran not to meddle in the affairs of Arab countries.

The GCC ministers called on Iran to respond positively to the efforts of the UAE to resolve the issue of the three islands — Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa — through negotiations or recourse to the International Court of Justice. 

The ministers condemned the attack on the UAE civilian vessel Swift near the Bab Al-Mandab Strait while it was on a regular trip transporting humanitarian aid and evacuating injured civilians for treatment in the UAE. They described the incident as a terrorist act threatening international navigation in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, as it contravenes all international navigation laws and undermines international and regional efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen.

Referring to the bloodbath in Syria, the ministers condemned the escalation of military operations in Aleppo by the regime and its supporters through indiscriminate air raids against the civilian population and infrastructure. The ministers called on the international community to condemn such crimes against the people of Aleppo, and against civilians across the country. They also expressed their deep regret for “the inability of the UN Security Council to make decision to stop the air campaign and the bombing of civilians in Aleppo.”

The ministers also expressed their rejection of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism (JASTA) law, affirming that “it is inconsistent with the principles of international law, particularly against the principle of equal sovereignty among countries provided for in the UN charter.” They expressed hope that the legislation would be reconsidered as it would have an “adverse impact on the relations between countries including the US.”

Referring to the deplorable situation in Yemen, the ministers reaffirmed that the formation of the so-called political council in Yemen between the Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s supporters, and the formation of the so-called national salvation government constitute violations of Yemen’s internationally recognized constitutional legitimacy and impede reaching a political agreement.