Sputnik reported on Monday that US Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake was summoned today by the Turkish Foreign Ministry over the recent secret visit of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley to Syria.

The news of Milley's visit was disclosed by the General himself in a news report published by Reuters on March 4. 

General Milley claims to have traveled to Syria for the purposes of assessing over eight years of US efforts to combat ISIS as well as reviewing safeguards to protect US occupation forces in the country. 

"US Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake was summoned to the foreign ministry today regarding the visit of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley to northeastern Syria on March 4, 2023, and explanations were requested regarding this visit," the source told Sputnik.

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Yesterday, it was reported that Syria condemned the illegal visit made by Milley to the country's northeast.

"Syria underlines that the illegal visit by the American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity," a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

"The Syrian Foreign Ministry calls on the US administration to immediately stop its systematic and continuous violations of international law and its support for separatist armed militias," they added.

The US has for long employed the alleged "ISIS threat" as a pretext to continue its illegal occupation of northeastern Syrian territories.

It has done so for two reasons: to destabilize the Syrian government and to pursue the systematic looting of the country's oil resources.

US occupation troops stationed in Syria mainly rely on the support of anti-government militant groups in Syria to carry out their objectives. 

Among the allies of the US occupation forces are Kurdish militant groups with whom Turkey is at odds. 

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