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Arab League Fully Supports Syria's Sovereignty Over Golan Heights

© AFP 2023 / JALAA MAREYSilhouette sculptures of Israeli soldiers are pictured next to a sign for tourists showing the respective distances to Damascus and Baghdad from an army post on Mount Bental in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on January 20, 2019.
Silhouette sculptures of Israeli soldiers are pictured next to a sign for tourists showing the respective distances to Damascus and Baghdad from an army post on Mount Bental in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on January 20, 2019. - Sputnik International
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Earlier, US President Donald Trump tweeted that it was time for the US to fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit announced that the league fully supports Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

"The League of Arab States fully supports Syria's right for its occupied territory. We have a specific position, based on resolutions, on this issue," Aboul Gheit said on Thursday.

The official insisted that the Golan Heights were occupied territory belonging to Syria under international law and the resolutions of the United Nations and the UN Security Council.

Golan Heights. File photo - Sputnik International
Trump: Time for US to Fully Recognise Israel's Sovereignty Over Golan Heights
Meanwhile, a representative of the European Union's diplomatic service stressed that the EU still doesn't recognize the territory as part of Israel.

The Golan Heights, considered by Syria to be a part of its territory, was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. It was not until 1981 that Tel Aviv passed legislation formally annexing the area. The United Nations has not recognised the annexation.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the US attempts to legitimize Israeli policy of occupation of the Golan Heights, which undermines the Syrian territorial integrity, are not in line with the international law and condemned by Ankara.

"The territorial integrity of states is the most fundamental principle of international law. Attempts by the #US to legitimize #Israel's actions against international law will only lead to more violence and pain in the region. Turkey supports #Syria's territorial integrity," Cavusoglu wrote on his Twitter page.

READ MORE: Israel No Longer Occupies Golan Heights, US State Department Indicates

Earlier on Thursday, Trump took to Twitter during a visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Jerusalem to say that it was time for the US to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, adding that the territory "is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and regional stability".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Trump's statement by thanking the US president for his support. Netanyahu on Thursday made a phone call to US President Donald Trump to express gratitude for the statement.

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