Sunday, February 23rd, 2020
Press Statement
The Observatory for Terrorism and Human Rights at the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue warned of the escalation of the humanitarian crisis in the Syrian city of Idlib due to clashes between the Syrian army and Turkey, and the admission of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of transferring terrorist elements and mercenaries trapped in Idlib to the Libyan city of Tripoli to fight the Libyan National Army, which poses a threat to the security of Europe and the world and represents a serious violation of international security and peace.
The Observatory questioned the fate of the terrorist elements trapped in Idlib as the Syrian army forces advanced and the danger of leaking these elements towards Europe or continuing their transfers to Libya according to the Turkish plan, stressing that the presence of these elements in Libya may result in the emergence of new terrorist hotbeds threatening North Africa and southern Europe and causing a failure of operations The ongoing fight against terrorism in the Sahel and Sahara countries, and their use by Turkey to fight the Libyan army undermines Libya’s ability to continue counter-terrorism operations and protect its coasts from illegal immigration and human trafficking, which means the humanitarian crisis from Syria is extending to Libya.
The Observatory confirmed that Turkish actions inside Syria and Libya are in flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 of 2001, which criminalizes UN member states’ support for terrorist elements, arms supply or leniency. inside recruitment of fighters or their use in regional conflicts, which requires the Security Council to investigate these practices, Which Violates all anti-terrorist procedures worldwide.
The Observatory demanded the International community to stand with a humane conscience and fulfill its role of Protecting international peace and security, and moving to counter the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s actions which is exacerbating humanitarian crises that the Middle East suffers from with its military interventions in Libya and Syria, which violate all the rules of international and humanitarian law, and threatens human rights in southern Europe and the World. The Observatory also calls upon UN agencies to set up an international commission of inquiry into the Turkish president’s admission of the transfer of fighters from Syria to Libya and to reveal his links to those organizations that have committed crimes against humanity in both Syria and Libya, and that the victims of such inhumane practices request that the violations be documented and go to the International Criminal Court.
