United Nations, Sept. 3 (SANA) Türkiye’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ahmet Yıldız praised Syria’s determination to address its chemical weapons legacy in close coordination with the international community.
Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on Syria’s chemical weapons file, Yıldız described the issue as “one of the gravest legacies of the Assad era,” but said there was now “genuine cause for optimism.”
“We firmly believe that sustainable progress on the chemical weapons file can best be achieved through practical, gradual and well-coordinated cooperation with Syria, taking into account the realities on the ground,” he said.
Yıldız welcomed the decision by the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in July to restore Syria’s rights and privileges within the organization. He also welcomed recent agreements concerning the verification of chemical weapons facilities.
The Turkish envoy welcomed the deployment of an OPCW Technical Secretariat team to Syria to inspect the destruction of Category 3 chemical weapons and said Ankara looked forward to receiving its report.
Yıldız acknowledged the challenges involved in identifying, securing and preparing chemical materials for destruction, partly because of the clandestine nature of the deposed regime’s chemical weapons program.
He warned that Israeli airstrikes targeting suspected chemical weapons-related sites following the fall of the former regime had further complicated those efforts.
Such attacks could release hazardous materials, endanger civilians and destroy evidence crucial to establishing facts and ensuring accountability for previous chemical weapons attacks, he said.
Yıldız affirmed that Türkiye would continue supporting Syria’s efforts to strengthen its technical and logistical capabilities in accordance with OPCW standards.
“We reiterate our strong support for the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned efforts to address the chemical weapons file,” he said, adding that the shared objective should be “a Syria that is permanently free of chemical weapons.”
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