The head of German diplomacy urged Turkey and Israel on Wednesday not to jeopardize the possibility of a peaceful transition in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.
“If we want a peaceful Syria, the territorial integrity of the country must not be called into question and neighbors, such as the Turkish and Israeli governments, who assert security interests, must not jeopardize the process with their actions », Said Annalena Baerbock during a press briefing in Berlin.
“Syria must not become the toy of foreign forces or powers again,” warned the German minister.
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In recent days, the Israeli army has carried out hundreds of strikes on its neighbor’s territory, targeting both chemical weapons warehouses and the air defenses of the Syrian navy.
Having gone on a two-day trip to Jordan and Iraq, notably to meet German soldiers present as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State organization, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius largely defended these strikes.
“What Israel is doing here can certainly be understood as a measure of security, of protection, that is to say to guarantee security in the region, but also beyond,” he said in a statement. declaration sent by the ministry.
“The idea that chemical weapons from Syrian factories, for example, could end up in the wrong hands and play a role in Islamist-motivated attacks anywhere in the world is an idea that is difficult to bear,” Boris said. Pistorius.
But these measures must “not ultimately contribute to an escalation,” he added.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (YouTube screenshot)
These strikes are unfounded under international law, UN experts said on Wednesday, going so far as to say that “preventive” disarmament opened the door to “global chaos”.
As for the repercussions of the Syrian events in Germany, Annalena Baerbock castigated the calls from the right and the far right to send refugees back to Syria, as soon as President Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power.
Ms Baerbock thus considered it “strange” that those who had called a few weeks ago to normalize relations with President Assad, to facilitate expulsions, “already know after 48 hours that everyone can return home”.
In Germany – the EU country which hosts the largest Syrian diaspora, almost a million people – the debate on sending back refugees has been in full swing since Sunday.
In the middle of the electoral campaign ahead of the legislative elections on February 23, a leader of the conservative opposition, Jens Spahn, proposed “chartering planes” and allocating a bonus of a thousand euros to “all those who want to return to Syria.”
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