HAMILTON, Canada

Türkiye's UN envoy on Wednesday highlighted Syria's "significant progress" since the ouster of the Assad regime last December, urging the complete restoration of the country's sovereignty and continued support for lifting sanctions.

"The Syrian government has achieved significant progress since last December, despite the magnitude of challenges," UN envoy Ahmet Yildiz said at a Security Council session on Syria. He added that "engagement with the international community is also advancing in a steady and constructive manner."

Noting the advancement in the country's political process, Yildiz said "recent elections to the People's Assembly reflected the government's commitment to an inclusive national dialogue."

"We believe that normalization in Syria will gain momentum once all natural resources are managed by the Syrian government for all Syrians," he said, stressing the importance of lifting of remaining sanctions.

Expressing concern over the actions of the terrorist organization SDF, Yildiz said: "Local communities continue to express growing dissatisfaction with the so-called SDF. We note with concern the so-called SDF's ideological and coercive practices that have deepened local tension."

The SDF is dominated by the terrorist group YPG, the Syrian branch of the terrorist PKK.

He also called for the reintegration of northeastern provinces and complete control of camps and detention centers by Damascus, adding that the international community should "rely on the Syrian Government to run a healthy and accelerated repatriation from these camps."

Yildiz demanded Israel to withdraw from the occupied areas, saying "it is essential to uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and to ensure the full respect for the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries in the region."

The Syrian government has been intensifying security efforts since last year's ouster of Bashar al-Assad after 24 years in power.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. A new transitional administration led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa was formed in January.

Israel has launched strikes on multiple military sites and assets across Syria since then, and has expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone.​​​​​​​