{"id":36777,"date":"2019-03-22T13:23:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T13:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=36777"},"modified":"2019-03-22T13:23:21","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T13:23:21","slug":"syria-slams-trump-vows-to-recover-israeli-occupied-golan-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=36777","title":{"rendered":"Syria slams Trump, vows to recover Israeli-occupied Golan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT: The Syrian government vowed to recover the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday as its allies and enemies alike condemned US President Donald Trump for moving to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory seized in war.<\/p>\n

\nTrump\u2019s statement on Thursday marked a dramatic shift in US policy over the status of a disputed area that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 \u2014 a move not recognized internationally.<\/p>\n

\nGulf Cooperation Council<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nThe Gulf Cooperation Council regional group of six Arab countries expressed regret on Friday at US President Donald Trump\u2019s call to recognize Israel\u2019s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria in a 1967 war.<\/p>\n

\nTrump\u2019s statement \u201cwill not change the reality that (…) the Arab Golan Heights is Syrian land occupied by Israel by military force in 1967,\u201d said Abdul Latif Al Zayani, the GCC secretary general.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe statements by the American president undermine the chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nEuropean Union<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nThe European Union underlined it does not recognize Israel\u2019s sovereignty over the Golan Heights on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe position of the EU has not changed,\u201d an EU spokeswoman told Reuters. \u201cThe European Union, in line with international law, does not recognize Israel\u2019s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, including the Golan Heights and does not consider them to be part of Israel\u2019s territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nEgypt<\/strong>
Egypt also said on Friday it considers the territory as occupied Syrian land.<\/p>\n

\nIn a statement carried by state news agency MENA, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry cited U.N. Security Council resolution 497 of 1981 which rejected Israel’s annexation of the territory.<\/p>\n

\nThe ministry \u201cstressed the importance that everybody should respect the resolutions of international legitimacy and the United Nations Charter in respect of the inadmissibility of acquiring land by force,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\nFrance<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nThe French Foreign Ministry said the sovereignty of Israel over the Golan Heights would be contrary to international law.<\/p>\n

\nGermany<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nThe Golan Heights is Syrian territory occupied by Israel, a German government spokeswoman said on Friday when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic territory.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf national borders should be changed it must be done through peaceful means between all those involved,\u201d spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe government rejects unilateral steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIran, Russia, and Turkey<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nRussia and Iran, military allies of Damascus, condemned the shift toward recognition \u2014 comments which the Syrian government said showed Washington\u2019s \u201cblind\u201d pro-Israeli bias.
\u201cThe Syrian nation is more determined to liberate this precious piece of Syrian national land through all available means,\u201d the Syrian state news agency cited an official source as saying.
The Golan Heights would remain \u201cSyrian, Arab,\u201d it said, saying the statement showed contempt for international law.
Turkey, a US-allied state and an adversary of the Damascus government, also criticized the move, saying it had brought the Middle East to the edge of a new crisis and the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights could not be allowed.
\u201cUS President Trump\u2019s unfortunate statement yesterday has brought the region to the brink of a new crisis,\u201d Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said.
Iran said the US position was illegal and unacceptable, and Russia said a change in the status of the Golan Heights would be a direct violation of UN resolutions.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is touring the region, is due in Beirut on Friday where he will he will meet political allies of the powerful, Iran-backed Hezbollah, including President Michel Aoun.
Both Iran and Russia have deployed forces into Syria in support of President Bashar Assad during the Syrian conflict, with Iran sending both its own forces and also backing regional Shiite militias such as Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah that have helped Damascus.
\u201cThis illegal and unacceptable recognition does not change the fact that it belongs to Syria,\u201d an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman was cited as saying by state TV.<\/p>\n

\nIn a speech at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Turkey\u2019s Erdogan said: \u201cwe cannot allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nArab League<\/strong>
The Arab League, which suspended Syria in 2011, said Trump\u2019s comment paved \u201cthe way for official American recognition\u201d of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the statements were \u201ccompletely beyond international law.\u201d
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressed the United States to recognize its claim and raised that possibility in his first White House meeting with Trump in February 2017.<\/p>\n

\nTrump\u2019s statement has given a boost to Netanyahu in the middle of his re-election campaign.
Netanyahu has praised Trump for \u201cmaking history\u201d with the statement.
\u201cAfter 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel\u2019s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!\u201d Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
Trump\u2019s move followed the US recognition in December 2017 of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital \u2014 a decision that also drew international criticism as the disputed city\u2019s status remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT: The Syrian government vowed to recover the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday as its allies and enemies alike condemned US President Donald Trump for moving to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory seized in war. Trump\u2019s statement on Thursday marked a dramatic shift in US policy over the status of a disputed area that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}