Ambassador Kelly Craft
Permanent Representative
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York City
October 10, 2019
AS DELIVERED
Good afternoon, we just finished our consultations on Syria.
And as the President has made abundantly clear, the U.S. has not in any way endorsed the decision of the Government of Turkey to mount a military incursion into Northeast Syria.
President Trump has emphasized to the Government of Turkey that they bear full responsibility for protecting the Kurdish population and religious minorities, including Christians, and ensuring that no humanitarian crisis takes place.
In addition, Turkey is now responsible for ensuring that all ISIS fighters in detention in prison, remain in prison and that ISIS does not reconstitute itself in any way, shape, or form.
Failure to play by the rules, to protect vulnerable populations, failure to guarantee that ISIS cannot exploit these actions to reconstitute, will have consequences.
Thank you.
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