Dutch MPs to discuss situation in North and East Syria

AMSTERDAM —  Syriac Member of Dutch Parliament Isa Kahraman (Nieuw Sociaal Contract, NSC), NSC Head Pieter Omtzigt, and Member of the Dutch Parliament and Foreign Affairs Spokesman of the Coalition Don Seder (ChristenUnie, CU) sent a joint letter to the Foreign and Interior Ministers of the Dutch government, asking them for written answers regarding the situation in North and East Syria.

The letter which included 16 questions about the recent attacks launched by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in northwestern Syria.

They demanded an answer to the questions of the letter, during a discussion session scheduled for 11 December to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

At the beginning of the letter, they asked a question about news published in the official daily newspaper, which was entitled “For the first time after many years, HTS is defeating the Syrian regime, who is HTS?”

They demanded answers about the HTS identity, countries supporting HTS, the amount of material support and the type of weapons being sent to HTS.

They pointed out that the UN and the US have classified HTS as a terrorist organization. They also asked if Europe and the Netherlands in particular have the same opinion towards HTS.

They also wondered about any Dutch efforts to take measures against the countries supporting HTS and what diplomatic pressure should be taken against the armed groups and against the countries that violate human rights in Syria.

They wondered about the readiness of the Netherlands to raise these issues in international forums.

The MPs asked about the Netherlands follow up on violations of minority rights, since HTS is known for violent practices against Christians, such as Syriacs (Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans), Syriac Melkites, Armenians, Kurds, and Yezidis.

They also touched upon the humanitarian situation in Edleb (Idlib) and Holeb (Aleppo) and the mass displacement to Europe due to successive crises, in addition to the form of a permanent solution that can be found for Syria.