![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Germany urges Turkish restraint in Syria, Iraq raids Berlin, Nov 21 (AFP) Nov 21, 2022 Germany on Monday urged a "proportional" response in compliance with international law after Turkey carried out air strikes against bases of outlawed Kurdish militants across northern Syria and Iraq. "Civilians at all times must be protected," foreign ministry spokesman Christofer Burger told a government briefing, describing as "extremely worrying" reports of civilian victims in the Turkish air raids. "We call on Turkey to react proportionally and to respect international law," he added. The Turkish raids in northern and northeastern Syria killed at least 31 people, said the British-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday. The raids were mainly against positions held by Syrian Kurdish forces. The offensive, codenamed Operation Claw-Sword, comes a week after a bombing in Istanbul killed six people and wounded 81. Turkey blamed the attack on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK has waged a bloody insurgency for decades and is designated a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But it has denied involvement in the Istanbul explosion. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said that Turkey could launch a ground operation in Syria. Burger said Germany urged "Turkey and all other participants to do nothing that would aggravate the already tense situation in northern Syria and Iraq."
|
|
All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.
|