Syria on Thursday accused neighbouring Turkey of involvement in looting factories in the industrial city of Aleppo, in letters sent to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council that also urged swift action.
"Some 1,000 factories in the city of Aleppo have been plundered, and their stolen goods transferred to Turkey with the full knowledge and facilitation of the Turkish government," the foreign ministry said in the letters.
"It is an illegal act of aggression that amounts to piracy. It is an act of aggression against the Syrian people's livelihood," the ministry added.
The ministry charged that Turkey, which backs the armed rebellion against the Damascus government, "is supporting terrorism while providing the conditions to help plunder Syria's riches.
"This requires a reaction by the UN Security Council," the ministry said.
Turkey's alleged actions "contribute directly to cross-border crime and piracy, which require an international reaction," it said.
The ministry also called on Turkey to "return the (looted) property to its owners, and pay compensation to those affected." On Tuesday the head of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Industry, Fares Shihabi, wrote the foreign ministry accusing "armed groups" -- the term used by the government to describe the rebels -- of having stolen machinery, equipment, vehicles, cranes and raw materials from the northern city of Aleppo.
Shihabi said that these groups smuggled the stolen goods into Turkey across Syria's porous northern border via rebel-controlled crossings.
He also urged the Syrian authorities to press the UN to investigate the "plight of Syrian industrialists." Aleppo, Syria's second city and commercial hub, is home to some 30,000 factories that were churning out everything from soap to textile before the uprising launched against the regime in March 2011.
But much of the industry has ground to a halt as the city and surrounding areas have been engulfed in violence since a major rebel onslaught in July last year.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tu...laims.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38782&NewsCatID=352
Aleppo industrialists say more than 300 factories were plundered and their equipment sold in Turkey, hence their decision to settle their accounts with Turkey at the International Court of Justice.
In normal days, it takes 20 minutes to reach Sheikh Najjar from Aleppo. But as it was impossible to pass through the area controlled by the opposition militants, it took me an hour. The army checkpoint and a military outpost at the entrance of Sheikh Najjar are always standing by to prevent a repeat of the December 2012 raid by the opposition that seized the industrial city. It looks like a ghost city with hundreds of razed, burned or plundered buildings, among them the International Islamic Bank of Syria, the Bank of Syria and Overseas, and the Delil Battal yarn-spinning factory.
I met the commander at the military outpost. He explained how they took back Sheikh Najjar in July 2014. “They had occupied 80% of the factories. We launched the operation from Hanasir and fought in an area of 100 square kilometers [62 square miles]. It took us 48 hours to take back Sheikh Najjar. They destroyed most businesses by setting off their booby traps as they were fleeing." On buildings groups used as military posts during the 2012-2014 occupation, one can still see slogans of groups like Jabhat al-Nusra.
My next meeting was with Hazim Accan, the director general of the Sheikh Najjar Industrial City. He told me, “One hundred forty-five billion Syrian pounds were invested here in the year 2000. Activities began in 2005. There are 963 production facilities, mostly textiles, food, chemicals, medicines, aluminum, iron and plastics. Today 366 of them are operational. They were badly damaged. Electricity and water systems collapsed. Half of the non-operational facilities were dismantled and taken to Turkey. We don’t know who plundered it, but Turkey is the responsible party. This is why the Aleppo Chamber of Industry and Commerce is taking the issue to international courts."
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http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ori...or-looting-aleppo-industry.html#ixzz4CXu21yLs
