Thank you Mr. President.

We also thank High Representative Nakamitsu for her briefing.

It has been nearly ten years since the unanimous adoption of the Security Council Resolution 2118.

Last month, the OPCW Director General briefed the Council and subsequently submitted his 113th report, which demonstrates that outstanding issues in relation to Syrian regime’s initial and subsequent declarations persist.

As we have heard from High Representative Nakamitsu today, the OPCW Secretariat is still waiting for responses to its inquiries sent to the regime regarding its chemical weapons production facilities and unauthorized movement of chlorine cylinders used in Douma attack in 2018.

Due to identified gaps, inconsistencies, and discrepancies that remain unresolved, the OPCW cannot still consider Syrian regime’s declaration accurate and complete.

We call on the Syrian regime to fully cooperate with the OPCW Technical Secretariat and submit pending declarations and documents and to fulfill all of its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and Resolution 2118.

Mr. President,

We commend the independence, impartiality and professionalism upheld by the OPCW Technical Secretariat.

We also welcome Technical Secretariat’s efforts to deliver on its mandate through using new or alternative methods when faced with hurdles.

In these efforts, the OPCW needs the support of this Council, not discouragement.

We look forward to receiving detailed information on the outcomes of the limited in-country mission conducted by a reduced Declaration Assesment Team (DAT) in January.

Mr. President,

Investigations by OPCW’s Fact Finding Mission (FFM) and Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) are important to establish the truth about chemical weapons use in Syria.

In its third report, released last January, IIT concluded that Syrian regime is the perpetrator of the chlorine gas attack, which took place in Douma in April 2018.

Thereby, so far, the regime’s responsibility in nine chemical weapons attacks has been established in the reports of investigative bodies mandated by the UN and the OPCW.

Theuse of chemical weapons is a grave violation of international law andunacceptable under any circumstances.

Türkiye strongly condemns the repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria.

We will continue to support the efforts by the UN and the OPCW aiming at ensuring accountability in Syria.

Ending impunity is imperative to achieve lasting peace in this country.

This is also our collective responsibility to hundreds of innocent lives lost due to chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

We cannot change the past but we do have the power to change the course of future for the people of Syria.

I thank you.