Trump's tweet on Golan 'defies will of Syrian people'

By Mohamed Misto

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Syrian opposition has condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's recent statements on the occupied Golan Heights in which he said it was “time for the U.S. to fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty” over the territory.

In a Friday statement, the opposition's High Negotiations Committee described Trump’s assertion as “contrary [UN] Security Council resolutions, which regard the Golan Heights as [Israeli-] occupied Syrian territory”.

The U.S. president’s claim, the statement added, “directly challenges the will of the Syrian people, who retain the right to liberate occupied territories by all means guaranteed under international law”.

What’s more, the statement continued, Trump’s declaration “further complicates the regional situation and undermines prospects for stability and peace”.

In a Thursday tweet, Trump said: “After 52 years [since the war] it is time for the U.S. to fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the state of Israel and regional stability!”

Notably, the U.S. State Department last week described the Golan Heights as an “Israeli-controlled” territory. Previously, it had consistently referred to the region as “Israeli-occupied”.

And last November, the U.S. -- for the first time -- voted against an annual UN resolution condemning Israel's continued occupation of the Golan.

While 151 countries voted in support of the resolution, only Israel and the U.S. voted against it.