International opposition mounts against Turkey's offensive in Syria 

Several nations condemn Turkish military operation as Trump says it's a 'bad idea'

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/international-opposition-mounts-against-turkeys-offensive-syria

International opposition is mounting against Turkey's military offensive into Kurdish-held northeastern Syria, leading to a call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. 

The Turkish offensive, launched on Wednesday, had been anticipated since Washington announced on Sunday it was withdrawing its forces from the area, clearing the way for Turkey's military operation. 

The predominantly Kurdish northeast is mostly held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has been Washington’s coalition partner in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group.

Still, the SDF, an umbrella group of several militias are primarily controlled by the Kurdish YPG, which Ankara sees as an extension of the Turkey-based PKK militant group deemed a terrorist organization by the Turkish government.

Turkey's aim is to push the SDF away from its border to create a "safe zone" on the Syrian side, where it could send back some of the 3.6 million refugees from Syria's eight-year civil war that it currently hosts. 

International reactions

On Wednesday, the president of the European Union's executive branch, Jean-Claude Juncker, urged Turkey to show restraint and stop its military operation. 

If Turkey's plan involves the creation of a safe zone, "don’t expect the EU to pay for any of it", Juncker warned, according to Reuters news agency. 

After Turkey launched its operation, Britain, France, and Germany called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to be held on Thursday.

The Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, and Canada spoke out against the offensive as well. 

Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok, after summoning the country's Turkish ambassador, said the Netherlands "condemns" Turkey's offensive and called on Turkish officials to "not to continue on the path they are going down", Reuters reported. 

Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod called the Turkish operation "a regrettable and wrong decision" and called on Turkey to "show restraint". 

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas separately warned that Turkey's operation would lead to further destabilization of the region.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland condemned the move as well, calling on Twitter for the "protection of civilians and on all parties to respect their obligations under international law".

Egypt and Saudi Arabia both came out in opposition to the Turkish advance. 

Saudi Arabia called the offensive a "blatant violation of the unity and independence and sovereignty of Syrian territories".

Official Saudi news agency SPA cited a foreign affairs official as saying that the incursion was a "threat to regional peace and security".

Riyadh has had tense relations with Ankara, partly over the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi government agents at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul last year.

Egypt has also endured uneasy relations with Turkey for years, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of the 2013 coup that brought Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to power. 

Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates also denounced the Turkish incursion. 

In the United States, lawmakers continued to denounce the Turkish operation, calling on President Donald Trump to intervene against it.

Trump, who is widely seen as the enabler of the Turkish offensive said the assault was "a bad idea" not backed by the United States.

"The United States does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea," Trump said in a statement released by the White House on Wednesday. 

Trump added that Turkey is now responsible for IS fighters in SDF custody.

Currently, about 60,000 people linked to IS, the majority of whom are women and children are being held in an al-Hol camp in northeast Syria.

SDF fighters guard the al-Hol camp, but critics say the Turkish offensive risks drawing those guards away from their posts to join the battle.

Turkey says the incursion aims to protect its national security and prevent a "terror corridor" between Syrian and Turkish Kurdish militants.

"Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area," Erdogan said on Twitter on Wednesday. "We will preserve Syria's territorial integrity and liberate local communities from terrorists."