Reservation made upon acceptance:
"The accession of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Convention adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its seventeenth session on 16 November 1972 and its ratification by the Syrian Arab Government do not mean in any way its recognition of Israel and cannot result in the establishment of a direct contact with it that might be stipulated by the said Convention.
The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic views that the obligation emanated in Article 4 covers the occupied Arab territories and consequently, the Israeli occupation authorities are under obligation to preserve the cultural and natural heritage existing in the occupied territories in view of the fact that occupation does not eliminate sovereignty and that the occupation authorities are considered internationally responsible for any attenuation of the cultural and natural heritage even if Israel has not acceded to the Convention.
The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic views that paragraph 3 of Article 6 binds in its obligations therein contained the authorities occupying territories by force.
The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic views that the international cooperation system stipulated in Article 7 binds the Member States to exert all possible aid to the State whose part of its territories is occupied for the sake of preserving the natural and cultural heritage in the occupied territories against the aggressions of the occupying authorities."