Arab Summit in Baghdad Reaffirms Support for Syria, Rejects Foreign Interference
By Kardo Roj
BAGHDAD, Iraq (North Press) – The final communiqué of the 34th Arab League Summit, held Saturday in Baghdad, voiced unified support for Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while strongly condemning foreign interventions and repeated Israeli airstrikes on Syrian soil.
The high-level meeting, convened under the slogan “Dialogue, Solidarity, and Development,” gathered Arab heads of state and representatives from major international organizations to address pressing regional issues, with Syria once again occupying a central role in the bloc’s political discourse.
The summit’s closing statement emphasized “total rejection of all forms of external interference in Syria’s internal affairs” and expressed solidarity with Damascus amid what it described as continued violations of its sovereignty.
This year’s summit, hosted by Iraq, brought together senior delegates from Arab states, as well as representatives of the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, alongside observers from the European Union and other international bodies.
Although the summit focused broadly on regional crises including the conflict in Gaza, political instability in Lebanon, and civil unrest in Sudan, the situation in Syria remained a focal point of the diplomatic discussions.
The final communiqué also condemned ongoing Israeli military operations in Syria, calling them “clear violations of international law and an escalation that threatens regional peace and stability.”
The language of the communiqué aligns with long-standing Arab positions on sovereignty and opposition to external military involvement, though differences remain among member states regarding specific political solutions for the Syrian crisis.
Notably, the statement avoided addressing ongoing internal tensions within Syria, including the status of de facto autonomous regions such as northeast Syria, governed by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and protected by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
While the Arab League broadly backs a unified Syrian state, it has stopped short of proposing concrete frameworks to resolve decentralized governance models that have emerged over the course of the conflict. The absence of direct reference to these developments reflects the League’s cautious diplomatic posture and the sensitivity surrounding the future of power-sharing in Syria.