عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Arab League Calls for Emergency Meeting over Turkey’s Syria Offensive as Criticism Mounts

Shortly after Turkey’s offensive started, locals cheer as a convoy of Turkish forces vehicles drives through the town of Akcakale at the border between Turkey and Syria, October 9, 2019. (AP)
Shortly after Turkey’s offensive started, locals cheer as a convoy of Turkish forces vehicles drives through the town of Akcakale at the border between Turkey and Syria, October 9, 2019. (AP)
TT
TT

Arab League Calls for Emergency Meeting over Turkey’s Syria Offensive as Criticism Mounts

Shortly after Turkey’s offensive started, locals cheer as a convoy of Turkish forces vehicles drives through the town of Akcakale at the border between Turkey and Syria, October 9, 2019. (AP)
Shortly after Turkey’s offensive started, locals cheer as a convoy of Turkish forces vehicles drives through the town of Akcakale at the border between Turkey and Syria, October 9, 2019. (AP)

Egypt called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League over Turkey’s offensive into Syria, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

“Egypt condemned in the strongest terms the Turkish aggression on Syrian territory,” the ministry said in a statement, adding the offensive “represents a blatant and unacceptable attack on the sovereignty of a brotherly Arab state.”

Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria on Wednesday just days after US troops pulled back from the area.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the aim was to eliminate what he called a “terror corridor” on Turkey’s southern border, but European countries called on Ankara to halt the operation.

Turkey had been poised to enter northeast Syria since US troops, who have been fighting with Kurdish-led forces against ISIS, started to leave in an abrupt policy shift by US President Donald Trump.

The Egyptian foreign ministry, in its statement, “warned of the repercussions of the Turkish move on the unity and territorial integrity of Syria”.

Germany slammed the offensive, calling on Ankara to end military action, saying it threatened "a further humanitarian catastrophe and further displacement of persons."

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement that "we condemn the Turkish offensive in the northeast of Syria in the strongest possible terms. "

He said Turkey was running the risk that it would "further destabilize the region and strengthen ISIS.”

France's European affairs minister Amelie de Montchalin said France and Britain would call a UN Security Council meeting over the Turkish offensive.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Turkey not to "further destabilize the region" through its offensive.

Stoltenberg told a news conference in Rome that Turkey, a NATO ally, "has legitimate security concerns," having suffered "horrendous terrorist attacks" and hosting thousands of refugees.

He said Turkey should act with "restraint" and any action should be "proportionate."

Stoltenberg will discuss the military action with Erdogan on Friday in Istanbul.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Turkey to halt its military operation, warning that the EU will not be paying to help Ankara set up any safe zone there.

Speaking to EU lawmakers, he said: "I call on Turkey as well as on the other actors to act with restraint and to stop operations already, as we are speaking, underway."

While acknowledging that Turkey has security concerns on its border with Syria, Juncker said that "if the Turkish plan involves the creation of a so-called safe zone, don't expect the European Union to pay for any of it."

The EU is paying Turkey 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) to help the country cope with almost 4 million Syrian refugees on its territory in exchange for stopping migrants leaving for Europe. But Ankara is seeking more money amid concerns that thousands of Syrians could soon cross its border.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Syrian Opposition Leader Says Lebanon Truce Opened Door to Aleppo Assault

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Syrian Opposition Leader Says Lebanon Truce Opened Door to Aleppo Assault

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)

Syrian opposition fighters began preparations to seize Aleppo a year ago, but the operation was delayed by war in Gaza and ultimately launched last week when a ceasefire took hold in Lebanon, the head of Syria's main opposition abroad told Reuters.

The factions were able to seize the city and parts of neighboring Idlib province so quickly in part because Hezbollah and other Iran-backed fighters were distracted by their conflict with Israel, Hadi al-Bahra said in an interview on Monday.

The Turkish military, which is allied with some of the opposition and has bases across its southern border in Syria, had heard of the armed groups' plans but made clear it would play no direct role, he added.

The assault in northwestern Syria was launched last Wednesday, the day that Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah began a truce ending more than a year of fighting.

"A year ago they started really training and mobilizing and taking it more seriously," said Bahra, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, the internationally-recognized Syrian opposition.

"But the war on Gaza ... then the war in Lebanon delayed it. They felt it wouldn't look good having the war in Lebanon at the same time they were fighting in Syria," he said in his Istanbul office, in the first public comments on the fighters’ preparations by an opposition figure.

"So the moment there was a ceasefire in Lebanon, they found that opportunity ... to start."

The opposition operation is the boldest advance and biggest challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.

Syrian and allied Russian forces have launched counter attacks, which Bahra said are "destabilizing" Aleppo and Idlib and pose the biggest risk to civilians, given the earlier opposition advances had sought carefully to avoid such casualties.

IRAN, RUSSIA

The opposition retaking of Aleppo also paves the way for hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced elsewhere in the country and in Türkiye to return home, Bahra said.

"Due to the Lebanese war and decrease in Hezbollah forces, (Assad's) regime has less support," he said, adding Iranian militias also have less resources while Russia is giving less air cover due to its "Ukraine problem".

Damascus, which is also backed by Iran, did not immediately comment on whether the opposition sought to avoid casualties and whether it risks destabilizing the region with air raids. Assad has vowed to crush the fighters and has launched air raids.

Iran-backed Hezbollah did not immediately comment on whether its war with Israel opened the door to Syrian opposition advances in Aleppo, where it also has personnel.

Tehran has pledged to aid the Syrian government and on Monday hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed Iraqi militias crossed into Syria to help fight the factions, Syrian and Iraqi sources said.

A Turkish defense ministry official said last week that Ankara was closely monitoring the mobilization and taking precautions for its troops.

The opposition fighters are a coalition of Türkiye-backed mainstream secular armed groups spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that has been designated a terrorist outfit by Türkiye, the US, Russia and other states.

Bahra's coalition, which does not include HTS, represents anti-Assad groups including the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army or Free Syrian Army, which took territory north of Idlib over the last week.

It holds regular diplomatic talks with the United Nations and several states.