The Investigation and Identification Team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPWC), established with a mandate to identify those responsible for the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, concluded in its first report published on 8 April 2020, that the Syrian regime air force is the perpetrator of the three chemical weapons attacks that took place in Ltamenah on 24, 25 and 30 March 2017.

We consider the first report of the OPWC Investigation and Identification Team as an important step towards ensuring that those responsible for the chemical weapons attacks in Syria are held accountable for their crimes.

Apart from being a flagrant breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the use of chemical weapons is a crime against humanity and a war crime. Perpetrators of these attacks, which constitute blatant violations of international law, must not be left unpunished. This report is also a clear proof of the fact that the regime does not refrain from resorting to hideous means against its citizens in order to reach its vicious objectives. The regime, which has been indiscriminately slaughtering its own citizens, including children, for the last 9 years, must be held accountable for its crimes.

Having supported the resolution adopted in 2018 to mandate the OPCW with establishing responsibility with regard to the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, Turkey will continue to follow and support all the steps taken by the international community, first and foremost the UN and OPWC, for ensuring full accountability in Syria.