Syrian FM: Illegal presence of American, Turkish forces will eventually end

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has stressed that the American and Turkish illegal military presence in the Arab country will eventually end.

Speaking at a conference in Damascus on Monday, Mekdad said “Turkey knows that its withdrawal [from Syrian territories] is the sole way to restore ties between the two countries.”

Turkey deployed forces in Syria in October 2019 in violation of the Arab country’s territorial integrity.

Ankara-backed militants were deployed to northeastern Syria after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push militants of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.

Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

Also on Monday, Mekdad said “The US occupation of northeastern Syria, its act of plundering of its wealth, and its support of the separatist terrorist groups will end thanks to the struggle of our heroic people in Dayr al-Zawr and Hasakah, along with the Syrian Arab Army.”