Turkey has strongly condemned the decision taken by the Israeli government to expand its illegal settlements in the Golan Heights seized from Syria decades ago, and called on the international community to finally take action to stop Netanyahu and his warmongering and expansionist policies in the region.
In a statement issued in recent hours by the Turkish foreign ministry, Ankara ‘strongly condemn Israel’s decision to expand illegal settlements in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967. This decision is a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation. This step by Israel is a source of grave concern, taken together with Israel’s entry into the area of separation in violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, its advance into adjacent areas and airstrikes in Syria.’
The statement released by Turkey concludes that Israel’s actions are seriously undermining efforts to bring peace and stability to Syria and further increasing tension in the region. ‘It is imperative that the international community take the appropriate measures in response to Israel’s actions and ensure an end to the illegal steps of the Netanyahu government,’ the official text adds.
The Turkish government reacts in this way to Netanyahu’s announcement yesterday of a doubling of settlements on the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied during the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973). Following the end of the Assad regime, the Israeli prime minister ordered the army to occupy the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria in the Golan, which the Israeli state annexed in 1981 and which is home to some 23,000 Druze Arabs – most of whom retain Syrian nationality – and around 30,000 Israeli settlers, which under the new plans will double, making the native Druze population a minority in the area.
Netanyahu’s cabinet unanimously approved the ‘plan for the demographic development of the Golan’ in light of the ‘new front in Syria and the desire to double the population’; with a budget of $11 million (40 million shekels), the plan to repopulate the Golan Heights has been declared strategic for Israel in order to strengthen its border with Syria. ‘We will continue to expand there, develop and settle,’ the Israeli prime minister said.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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