(Phnom Penh): The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia expressed its strongest protest and categorical rejection of Thailand’s organisation of public events, religious ceremonies, and the opening of K’nar Temple for mass public visitation on Cambodian sovereign territory, according to a statement seen by Fresh News on Sunday (May 17).
The ministry reiterated that K’nar Temple, together with Tamone Thom and Ta Krabey Temple, are historical and cultural sites situated entirely within the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Cambodia, as established under the Franco-Siamese Treaties of 1904 and 1907 and the relevant delimitation instruments recognised under international law.
The organisation of official ceremonies, public gatherings, tourism activities, and any form of administrative or symbolic exercise of authority by Thai authorities at these Cambodian cultural sites constitutes an unlawful act and a grave violation of Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Such conduct represented a deliberate attempt to create a fait accompli on the ground, to consolidate occupation by force, and to progressively fabricate false factual and legal claims aimed at the unlawful de facto and de jure incorporation of Cambodian territory into Thailand’s domestic framework.
The ministry firmly rejected any attempt to legalise, normalise, or legitimise this unlawful occupation through unilateral public, religious, administrative, or cultural activities. Under international law, including Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles governing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, no unilateral domestic act or activity undertaken under occupation can alter Cambodia’s lawful sovereignty over these sites.
Cambodia considered these actions a serious escalation and places on record its complete non-recognition and non-acquiescence to all such acts. These activities are null, void, and without legal effect, and cannot create or confer any right, title, or claim upon Thailand.
The ministry called upon the Royal Thai Government to immediately cease all activities at Cambodian cultural sites under occupation, withdraw all unlawful measures, and refrain from any further action that may aggravate tensions or prejudice the peaceful settlement of this matter in accordance with international law.
The ministry reaffirmed that Cambodia remains firmly committed to defending its sovereignty, preserving its cultural heritage, and pursuing all appropriate peaceful legal and diplomatic measures to protect its territorial integrity.
=FRESH NEWS
