Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem: Al-Manar
[VIDEO AT ORIGINAL LINK]
Damascus says US-led airstrikes have failed to slow the advance of the ISIL terrorist group in Syria and Iraq, calling for pressure on Turkey to tighten its border controls.
“All the indications say that [ISIL] today, after two months of coalition airstrikes, is not weaker,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said in an interview with the Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen TV.
Muallem also accused Turkey of impeding efforts to counter the ISIL, saying Ankara’s plan to establish a no-fly zone in northern Syria would do nothing but split up the country.
Muallem also called on the United Nations to force Turkey into applying more controlling measures on its borders to stop militants from joining the ISIL in Syria.
“If the Security Council and Washington do not force Turkey to control its borders then all of this action will not eliminate [ISIL],” he said, referring to foreign terrorists who have crossed into Syria via Turkey.
Turkey, which has a 900 kilometer border with Syria, has been criticized by the international community for allowing militants to freely pass into Syria.
Since late September, the US, along with its regional allies, has been conducting airstrikes against the ISIL inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.
This is while many of the countries joining the so-called anti-terror coalition, such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been staunch supporters of the ISIL Takfiri elements in the Middle East.
The airstrikes by the US and its allies are an extension of the US-led aerial campaign against the ISIL positions in Iraq, which started in August.
The ISIL terrorists currently control swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq.
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