Turkey: Call to hold accountable those responsible for Syria chemical attacks

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reiterated its call to hold accountable those responsible for the chemical attack launched by the Syrian regime forces on the city of Saraqib, northwestern Syria, in 2018.

The Turkish ministry was commenting on the second report by the International Investigation and Identification Team of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the report, published on 12 April, 2021, concluded that the regime is the perpetrator of the chlorine gas attack that took place in Saraqib on 4 February, 2018. The report added: “The Investigation and Identification Team has thus confirmed the responsibility of the regime for yet another chemical weapons attack.”

“Apart from being a flagrant breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the use of chemical weapons is a crime against humanity and a war crime,” it stated.

“We reiterate our call that the perpetrators of these attacks, which constitute a blatant violation of international law, must not be left unpunished,” it asserted, adding that Turkey will continue to support all efforts, first and foremost by the United Nations and the OPCW, aiming to ensure accountability in Syria.

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