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SYRIA-TURKEY-CHINA-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY,LEAD
China urges Turkey to ‘stop military action’ in Syria
BEIJING, Oct 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – China on Tuesday called on Turkey to stop
its military action in northern Syria and “return to the correct way of
political resolution”, with Ankara’s operation against Kurdish militants in
its seventh day.
Turkey launched an assault last week against the Syrian Kurdish People’s
Protection Units (YPG), which it sees as a “terrorist” offshoot of Kurdish
insurgents in its own territory.
The United States imposed sanctions on Turkey, its NATO ally, in a bid to
stop an assault that its own troop withdrawal from the area had triggered but
Ankara has shown no sign of relenting.
“The sovereignty, independence, unification, and territorial integrity of
Syria should be respected and upheld,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman
Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.
“We call on Turkey to stop military action, and return to the correct way
of political resolution.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the operation
would not stop until “our objectives have been achieved”.
He said 1,000 square kilometres (385 square miles) of Syrian territory had
so far been “liberated from the separatist terrorist organisation”.
Turkey plans to establish a safe zone stretching across northern Syria, to
which it can repatriate many of the 3.6 million Syrian conflict refugees that
it is hosting.
Geng warned that the operation “may result in terrorists fleeing out, and
the Islamic State may attempt to take the opportunity to stage a comeback”.
“We urge the Turkish side to take responsibility and be side by side with
the international community and jointly fight terrorism.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1615 hrs