Syria calls on UN to force Turkey to withdraw troops

This file picture shows a view of the Syrian Foreign Ministry building in Damascus.

Syria has called on the United Nations and the Security Council to oblige Turkey to immediately withdraw its “invading forces” from the Syrian territory, stop cross-border attacks and maintain regional and international security and stability.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry, in separate but identical letters to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Security Council President Matthew Rycroft on Friday, condemned Turkish military forces over their "aggressive" and "treacherous" violation of the Damascus government’s sovereignty in flagrant infringement of the UN Charter, the principle of good neighborliness and Security Council resolutions on combating terrorism.

The statement noted that the Syrian government views Turkey as a terror sponsor, and holds Ankara fully responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people, destruction of Syria's infrastructure upon direct instructions from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his security forces, besides provision of all sorts of financial and military support.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry further urged the two world bodies to put an end to Turkish military attacks, describing the assaults as “a direct attempt by the Ankara government to hinder the progress of Syrian army forces and their allies in the fight against terror groups.”

The statement came less than a day after an unnamed military source told Syria’s official news agency SANA that Turkish forces had lobbed a barrage of artillery rounds and rockets at Syrian border guard posts near the city of Manbij, located only 40 kilometers from the Turkish border, killing and injuring scores of Syrian troopers.

On August 24, Turkish air force and special ground forces kicked off Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to support Free Syrian Army militants and rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The offensive was launched in coordination with the US-led military coalition, which has purportedly been fighting Daesh extremists since 2014.

The incursion was the first major Turkish military intervention in Syria, which drew strong condemnation from the Syrian government for violating the Arab country's sovereignty.

Erdogan said on November 29 that the Turkish army marched into Syria to end the rule of his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.

The Turkish leader, however, backtracked on the comments two days later, asserting that the offensives there were aimed only at terrorists.