Iran Blasts Turkey’s Disrespect for Syria’s Sovereignty

(FNA)- The Iranian foreign ministry warned that Turkey's disrespect for Syria's sovereignty could have dangerous repercussions for the region after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu crossed the border with Syria without the permission and information of the Damascus government to visit to the tomb of Suleyman Shah.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran underlines the necessity for respecting countries' sovereignty and sees this move as a dangerous step for the region which can make the situation more complicated," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said on Monday.

"Unfortunately, certain countries are miscalculating the trend of developments and conditions in the region," she added.

Afkham stressed the necessity for all parties to avoid provocative moves, and said, "Respect for the international laws and countries' sovereignty is a well-known principle and all states are necessitated to observe this rule."

Syria's official news agency SANA on Sunday denounced Turkey's prime minister for making a cross-border trip to the historic tomb inside Syrian territory, calling the visit a "clear aggression".

"Davutoglu's infiltration into Syrian territory without the permission of the Syrian government constitutes a clear aggression against a sovereign UN member state and a violation of international law," SANA said.

The visit came amid speculation that Turkey wants to launch ground incursion into Syria.

A potential Turkish intervention in Syria has been the subject of recent debate, but any such attempt seemingly lacked popular support and the Turkish government has so far denied news reports that it would take action.

Arab media sources revealed last week that Ankara had intensified attempts to unite different terrorist groups to coordinate their plots and actions against Damascus.

Al-Hayat daily reported that Turkey is endeavoring to gather the dissident and terrorist groups, including the so-called Ahrar al-Sham Movement and Jeish al-Islam, to unite them against the Syrian people and government.

This is while the so-called Filaq al-Sham terrorist group is due to emerge with Ahrara al-Sham Movement in the next few hours.

According to the report, Turkey's move is in line with implementing its plot to gather 70,000 terrorists in the Northern and Central parts of Syria as well as the areas near Damascus.

Earlier media reports also said that Washington and Ankara would start training 15,000 armed men in the coming days to be sent to Syria under the guise of campaign against ISIL.

"Although the US and Turkey claim that they want to train the Syrian opposition fighters to fight the ISIL, they are actually going to be sent to the country to combat government forces and the army," senior military analysts Mohamed al-Hasoun said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said that the US-led program will start on May 9, adding that the US and Turkey are still insisting on their stance that Syria should be run in the absence of Bashar Assad.

US officials have said they plan to train about 5,000 Syrian fighters a year for three years as part of a campaign against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria, while US Vice-President Joe Biden said a few months ago that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey that are the main US allies in the region are behind the creation of the terrorist groups, specially the ISIL, in the region.

Details on the training -- due to take place in Turkey, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia -- have been scant, although it had previously been planned to start this month.