The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesman called upon Turkey to “swiftly end” its military operations against Islamic State (ISIS) and Kurdish forces in Syria on Friday.
Bahram Qassemi said that while combating terrorists is important “this issue cannot and should be used as a justification for violating the territorial integrity of another country by conducting military operations against that country without coordination with its central government, and by overlooking its national sovereignty.”
His remarks were in response to Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, the military incursion into Syria which began on August 24 and aims to push ISIS and Kurdish forces away from Turkey’s northwestern border.
Turkey did not coordinate its operation with the Syrian regime, an Iranian ally. Damascus has bitterly denounced the operation as a “violation of Syria’s sovereignty” and an act of aggression. The Syrian regime also dismisses the notion that Turkey is there to fight terrorists since it, in the words of Syria’s UN envoy Bashar Jaafari, has “violated Syrian sovereignty before by intervening and allowing terrorists to infiltrate via its borders.”
Qassemi’s comments on Friday were not vitriolic, nevertheless he insisted that in the fight against terrorism it is “unacceptable to resort to approaches that shadow” another country’s sovereignty, warning that a continuation of fighting in the northwest would “lead to the killing of more innocent civilians.”
Therefore, he continued, “it is necessary that the Turkish army swiftly end the military operations in Syria.”
Bahram Qassemi said that while combating terrorists is important “this issue cannot and should be used as a justification for violating the territorial integrity of another country by conducting military operations against that country without coordination with its central government, and by overlooking its national sovereignty.”
His remarks were in response to Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, the military incursion into Syria which began on August 24 and aims to push ISIS and Kurdish forces away from Turkey’s northwestern border.
Turkey did not coordinate its operation with the Syrian regime, an Iranian ally. Damascus has bitterly denounced the operation as a “violation of Syria’s sovereignty” and an act of aggression. The Syrian regime also dismisses the notion that Turkey is there to fight terrorists since it, in the words of Syria’s UN envoy Bashar Jaafari, has “violated Syrian sovereignty before by intervening and allowing terrorists to infiltrate via its borders.”
Qassemi’s comments on Friday were not vitriolic, nevertheless he insisted that in the fight against terrorism it is “unacceptable to resort to approaches that shadow” another country’s sovereignty, warning that a continuation of fighting in the northwest would “lead to the killing of more innocent civilians.”
Therefore, he continued, “it is necessary that the Turkish army swiftly end the military operations in Syria.”
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