Arab League censures Turkey’s meddling in Syria, Iraq affairs

Rasa - The Arab League (AL) has denounced Turkey’s interference in the affairs of Syria and Iraq, stressing that the Turkish government’s support for terrorists has now backfired.

News ID: 425400

Date: 29 November 2016 - 23:32

RNA - Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the secretary general of the 22-member pan-Arab body, accused Turkey of having allowed the deployment of thousands of Western youths to Syria to carry out terrorist acts, Egypt's Youm7 website reported on Tuesday.

Turkey backed Daesh in a bid to overthrow the Syrian government, but the Takfiri terrorist group acted against its sponsor, Aboul Gheit said, adding that Turkey was not aware that terrorism would backfire on it.

Daesh is declining and will soon be defeated, but its ideology and lower-ranking elements may last for years, the official further noted.

Elsewhere in his comments, Aboul Gheit said Daesh has at its disposal the equipment required to extract oil, adding that the Takfiri group produces some 10,000 barrels of oil per day and sends them to Turkey for sale.

Syria has been hit by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Turkey stands accused of allowing potential militants to use its territory for travel and shipment of weapons into violence-wracked Syria, and buying smuggled oil from militants.

Back in August, Turkey launched an incursion into Syria, claiming that it was meant to engage both Daesh terrorists in the Syrian-Turkish border area and Kurdish forces, who were themselves fighting Daesh. Damascus condemned Turkey’s military intervention as a breach of its sovereignty.

Last December, Turkey also deployed some 150 soldiers, equipped with heavy weapons and backed by about two dozen tanks, to the outskirts of the Daesh-held Iraqi city of Mosul.

Ankara claimed the deployment was part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi Kurdish forces in the fight against Daesh, but Baghdad denounced the move.

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