PARIS, Oct 10 — France’s foreign ministry today summoned the Turkish ambassador to Paris over Ankara’s air and ground offensive into Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria, a diplomatic source said.
“The ambassador in France was summoned in the early afternoon,” the source said on the second day of the Turkish operation against Syrian Kurdish forces.
Ambassador Ismail Hakki Musa confirmed the reprimand. “I am (summoned), I’m going later on,” he told AFP.
Turkey’s intervention has sparked international outrage, raising fears of a new refugee crisis in northern Syria and concern that thousands of jihadists being held in Syrian Kurdish prisons could use the opportunity to escape.
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the assault against the Kurdish forces that led the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria “must stop”.
“It calls into question the security and humanitarian efforts of the coalition against Daesh and risks undermining Europeans’ security,” he said in a tweet, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Yesterday, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok also summoned Turkey’s ambassador to condemn Ankara’s assault.
“I call on Turkey not to follow the path it has chosen,” Blok said on Twitter. — AFP
