Arab League opens fire on Turkey over interference in neighboring countries
The Arab League’s Committee on “Turkish Interference in Arab Affairs” expressed concern over the continued Turkish military presence in the territories of a number of Arab countries, and called on Turkey to withdraw its forces from Syria, Libya and Iraq and stop recruiting mercenaries.
At its fourth meeting yesterday, the Committee condemned Turkey’s repeated violations of Security Council resolutions related to the arms embargo on Libya.
The Committee also stressed the illegality of the presence of Turkish forces in Iraq, Libya and the Syrian Arab Republic, stressed the need for Turkey to withdraw its forces immediately and unconditionally, and called for the cooperation of the Turkish Government in order to take all measures to address the care, recruitment, training and transfer of foreign terrorist fighters and mercenaries within the borders of the Arab country.
The committee condemned any violation of the demographic composition of some Arab areas under the control of Turkish forces, such as north-eastern Syria, and the continued violations of the sovereignty of some Arab States.
The committee also affirmed previous Arab League Council resolutions on Turkish interference in the internal affairs of Arab states, and said it was agreed to hold the next meeting of the committee on the sidelines of the 158th session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level, under the chairmanship of Egypt.
On the other hand, it commended Turkey’s initiative to reform its relations with Arab countries, and said that it had taken note of the developments in relations between the Turkish Republic and a number of Arab States, and looked forward to further constructive developments that would serve and preserve the interests of both sides.
Turkey has restored political relations with the UAE after a hiatus of years and is working to repair relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The committee, which includes Egypt as a president, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and the secretary-general of the Arab League, held its fourth meeting on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Arab League Council meetings at the ministerial level.
