Syria reserves right to use force against Turkey: Envoy

Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations says Damascus reserves the right to use force against Turkey’s military invasion of the Arab country.

Bashar al-Ja’afari, who also serves as the head of the Syrian delegation to current peace talks, made the remarks after meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in the Swiss city of Geneva on Thursday.

In August 2016, Turkey launched a major military incursion into Syria with the express aim of pushing back Daesh terrorists from the joint border with Syria and stopping Kurdish advances, which Damascus denounced as a breach of its sovereignty.

Turkey recently said its armed forces and allied militants were almost in full control of the Syrian city of al-Bab and planned to advance further to the nearby city of Manbij.

Ja’afari further accused the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Syria’s main opposition group, of taking peace talks “hostage” by refusing to include terrorism on the agenda of Geneva talks.

“Progress in the Geneva round must not be held hostage by the Riyadh platform,” he said, stressing that the opposition “will be responsible for any failure of the Geneva talks.”