ISTANBUL: Turkey has reiterated to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that it expects the alliance to show strong solidarity with Ankara against threats to Turkish security, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.
Speaking alongside Cavusoglu at a news conference in Istanbul, Stoltenberg said he expected Turkey to act with restraint in its push into Syria, adding that the international community must find a sustainable solution for Islamic State prisoners held by Kurdish forces in Syria.
As Ankara pressed on with an offensive against Kurdish militants in northeastern Syria, Stoltenberg said Turkey must ensure that progress in pushing back Islamic State in Syria was not jeopardized.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed “serious concerns” on Friday about Turkey’s ongoing operation against Kurdish forces in Syria and called for “restraint”.
“I shared […] my serious concerns about this ongoing operation and the risk of further destabilisation of the region,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Istanbul, speaking alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
“While Turkey has serious security concerns, we expect Turkey to act with restraint.”
Stoltenberg emphasised that Turkey was an important part of the Nato alliance, but said the operation in Syria, which began on Wednesday, should not undermine gains against the militant Islamic State group.
“These gains must not be jeopardised. An imminent concern is that captured Daesh prisoners must not be allowed to escape,” he said, using an alternative name for the militant IS.
Turkey considers Kurdish militants in northern Syria a “terrorist” offshoot of Kurdish insurgents in its own territory.
It wants a 30-kilometre (20-mile) wide buffer zone along the border, which can also serve as an area to repatriate millions of Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey.