Syria condemns ‘illegal entry’ of French delegation
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Tuesday condemned the ‘illegal entry’ of a French delegation into Syria, Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported on Tuesday.
An official source in the ministry told SANA that “a delegation from the French Foreign Ministry has illegally entered the Syrian territory.”
The source also suggested that the delegation met with “separatist” and “terrorist organizations” in a flagrant violation of “Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Read More: France repatriates 35 ISIS-affiliated women and children from Syria
On July 3, a French government delegation repatriated 25 children and 10 adult women from northeast Syria and met with officials of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria (AANES).
After the operation, France in a statement thanked “the local administration in north-east Syria for its cooperation, which made the operation possible.”
Moreover, in April, French senators visited northeast Syria to assess the situation there.
France has supported the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as part of the US-led coalition in the fight against ISIS, and it has also supported non-governmental organizations in northeast Syria to improve local conditions.
After a 7.8 magnitude earthquake tore through northern Syria in Feb. 2023, France pledged $13 million dollars in emergency aid to affected Syrians.
French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Francois Delmas has previously said that the aid for Syrians would in no way change France's "political approach" to President Bashar al-Assad's government, and that Paris still backed a political solution to end the conflict.