UN urges Turkey to ‘exercise maximum restraint’ in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Spokesperson to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General urged all parties to "exercise maximum restraint" in Syria when asked about Turkey's plan to launch a new military offensive against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria (Rojava). 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that Ankara would launch a new military operation into northern Syria to create a 30 kilometre “security zone” along its southern border. 

Rudaw’s Majeed Gly asked Stephane Dujarric during a briefing about Turkey’s threats on Thursday. 

“We would urge all the parties to exercise maximum restraint. There has been a ceasefire agreed in northern Syria since early October 2019 and 2020 between various parties. We are very attached to the importance of that ceasefire. We hope it is maintained,” said the spokesperson, referring to the ceasefires Turkey signed with Russia and the US days after Ankara attacked Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. 

“Our critical message is for all countries involved to respect the territorial integrity of Syria,” he added. 

On Thursday, Russia called on Turkey to refrain from carrying out a fresh offensive in Syria without a green light from Damascus.  

“Such a step, in the absence of the consent of the legitimate government of the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), would constitute a direct violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the SAR, provoke an additional escalation of tension in this country,” Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement, reported by Russian state-owned TASS.

"We hope that Ankara will refrain from actions which could lead to a dangerous deterioration of the already difficult situation in Syria,” she added. 
 
Mazloum Abdi, general commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said in a tweet on Thursday that “Any offensive will divide Syrians, create a new humanitarian crisis, and displace original inhabitants and IDPs [internally displaced persons].”

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday urged Turkey to maintain the current ceasefire lines in northern Syria, adding that any further military escalations would destabilize the region’s security.