Syria condemns ‘provocative’ Pompeo visit to Golan Heights

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks after a security briefing on Mount Bental in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights November 19, 2020. (Reuters)

• Israel seized the Golan Hights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War
• Last year, Trump’s administration controversially recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan

DAMASCUS: The Syrian government on Thursday condemned what it called a “provocative” visit by Mike Pompeo to the disputed Golan Heights, the first such visit by a US secretary of state.
“Pompeo’s visit is a provocative step before the end of the Trump administration’s term, and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic,” said a foreign ministry statement, carried by state news agency SANA.
“Syria affirms that such criminal visits encourage (Israel) to continue its dangerous hostile approach.”
Israel seized the Golan Hights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Last year, Trump’s administration controversially recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan, and Pompeo on Thursday condemned what he described as calls from “the salons in Europe and in the elite institutions in America” for Israel to return the Golan to Syria.
“Imagine with (Syrian President Bashar) Al-Assad in control of this place, the risk of the harm to the West and to Israel,” Pompeo said.