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UNITED NATIONS, New York – France, Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Poland and the UK issued a joint statement on Thursday calling on Turkey to “cease the unilateral military action” in northeast Syria.
Turkey launched its long-threatened offensive – dubbed ‘Operation Peace Springs’ – against Kurdish forces along the Syria-Turkey border on Wednesday evening.
Ankara was effectively given the greenlight to attack on Sunday when US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from the area – much to the outrage of America’s Kurdish allies who led the ground war against the Islamic State group (ISIS).
World leaders, diplomats, and members of Congress have condemned Turkey’s offensive, urging restraint and peaceful solutions.
The United Nations Security Council is currently meeting in New York to discuss a collective response to the Turkish operation.
“We are deeply concerned by the Turkish military operation in north-east Syria. We call upon Turkey to cease the unilateral military action as we do not believe it will address Turkey’s underlying security concerns,” the European powers said in the joint statement, seen by Rudaw.
They warned that renewed armed hostilities in northeast Syria risk undermining stability in the whole region, deepening the suffering of civilians, and causing a new wave of mass displacement.
Crucially, Turkey’s actions undermine the mission to defeat the Islamic State group (ISIS), also known as Daesh, the statement said.
“Unilateral military action on Turkey’s part threatens the progress achieved by the Global Coalition against Daesh. It will undermine the security of the Coalition’s local partners, including the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and risks protracted instability in north-east Syria, providing fertile ground for the resurgence of Daesh, which remains a significant threat to regional, international and European security,” the Europeans said.
Turkey’s actions will not create a secure area to resettle millions of Syrian refugees currently hosted by Turkey, they warned.
“It is unlikely that a so-called ‘safe zone’ in north-east Syria, as envisaged by Turkey, would satisfy international criteria for refugee return as laid down by UNHCR. We maintain our position that refugee and IDP returns to their places of origin must be safe, voluntary and dignified when conditions allow,” the statement read.
The SDF has raised concerns that Turkish plans to resettle Syrians in the area who are not indigenous to northeast Syria could amount to ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish population.
“Any attempt at demographic change would be unacceptable,” the European powers said. “We want to be clear that the EU will not provide stabilization or development assistance in areas where the rights of local populations are ignored.”
The Europeans did however acknowledge Turkey’s help containing the flow of refugees into Europe.
“Turkey is a key partner of the European Union, a NATO ally and a member in the Global Coalition against Daesh. It is a critically important actor in the Syrian crisis and the region, and we recognize Turkey’s important role as a host country of Syrian refugees,” the statement said.
“We continue to urge all parties to ensure the protection of civilians and unhindered, safe and sustainable humanitarian access throughout Syria.”
Russia
Speaking to reporters on the fringes of the Security Council meeting on Thursday, Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said any Security Council statement should take into account “other aspects of the Syrian crisis, not just the Turkish operation, but it should speak about the illegal military presence in that country and the need to terminate it immediately”.
Nebenzia told Rudaw’s Majeed Gly that all sides in the conflict should exercise maximum restraint during the operation.
However, Nebenzia said the operation is the result of demographic engineering committed by some of the Global Coalition’s partners – namely the Syrian Kurds.
The Russian ambassador said Moscow, the Syrian regime's key backer, had long warned the Kurds not to experiment with the region’s demography or alter the local Arabs’ traditional way of life.
Now the coalition is reaping the fruit of its demographic policies in that part of Syria, Nebenzia added.
The ambassador’s comments echo a similar line taken at the UN by Turkey, indicating potential Russian support for Turkey’s operation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of his long-threatened military offensive against Kurdish forces on Wednesday via Twitter.
He stressed the operation is designed to target the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and would not undermine efforts to defeat remnants of ISIS.
Turkey views the YPG, which forms the backbone of the SDF, as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK has fought a decades-long guerrilla war with the Turkish state for greater cultural and political rights for Kurds in Turkey.
The autonomous Kurdish administration of northern Syria saw the US presence as a guarantee against Turkish attack. The SDF’s top commander Mazloum Kobani Abdi called the move a “stab in the back”.
This is a developing story…
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