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TEHRAN, February 26 - French President Emmanuel Macron says Turkey must observe a United Nations Security Council resolution on a month-long ceasefire in Syria including its northwestern region of Afrin where Ankara is waging an offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) - In a telephone call on Monday, Macron told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the ceasefire "involved all Syrian territory, including in Afrin, and must be put into effect everywhere and by everyone without delay", the French presidency said.
The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously voted in favor of a resolution demanding a 30-day truce in Syria 'without delay' to allow aid delivery and medical evacuations.
The resolution was adopted by 15 votes to none, after several delays and a flurry of last-minute negotiations amid growing concerns about the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Turkey on Sunday welcomed the Security Council resolution, but said it would have no effect on Ankara's ongoing cross-border offensive in Afrin.
We welcome the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council in response to the worsening humanitarian situation all across Syria, in particular in Eastern Ghouta," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Turkey launched the so-called Operation Olive Branch in Syria's Afrin on January 20 in a bid to eliminate the YPG, which Ankara views as a terror organization and the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Turkey has warned that the Afrin offensive could expand to the nearby Syrian city of Manbij.
During the phone conversation, the French president expressed concern over the ongoing military offensive in Eastern Ghouta.
Macron told Erdogan that he was "deeply worried" about the bombardments of Eastern Ghouta, saying France would remain "vigilant" concerning humanitarian aid to the area and any use of chemical weapons.
Eastern Ghouta has witnessed renewed violence in the past few days, where terrorists have mounted repeated mortar attacks on the Syrian capital in the face of an imminent rout. Western powers, however, blame the Syrian government and Russia for the crisis.
A suspected new chemical attack has reportedly hit Eastern Ghouta just after Russia warned that militants were planning a gas attack there to pin it on the Syrian government.
Militant sources were quoted as saying that several people suffered symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine gas in the al-Shayfouniya area on Sunday, and one child was killed.
Late in February, Russia warned that militants in Eastern Ghouta were preparing to launch a chemical attack.
"The data at our disposal indicates the leaders of militant units are preparing a provocation that will involve the utilization of chemical weapons in order to accuse the government forces of deploying chemical weapons against peaceful civilians," said a report released by the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria.
Operation Olive Branch has heightened tensions with the United States, which works closely with the YPG in fighting against Daesh terrorists in Syria.
In a statement on Sunday, the Kremlin said the Russian, French and German leaders agreed to speed up their "exchange of information" on Syria.
It added that Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian crisis with French and German leaders, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, respectively.
According to the statement, Putin, Macron and Merkel stressed "the importance of continuing common efforts in the interests of the full implementation of the resolution as soon as possible."
Source: Prestv
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