EU official on Afrin: Russia, Iran, Turkey should help de-escalate tensions in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – An EU senior official on Monday expressed her deep concerns regarding ongoing military operations across Syria, including in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, and called on Astana guarantors to help de-escalate the situation in the country.

Responding to the question by Kurdistan 24 Correspondent Barzan Hassan in Brussels, the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said, “We have already expressed our concerns about this. In general terms, I am extremely concerned, and ministers as well, about the increase of military operations all over Syria from different actors, obviously first and for most by the regime and its supporters.”

She mentioned that regional countries should help put an end to the conflict in Syria rather than worsen the situation.

“There is a special responsibility, especially from the three guarantors of Astana process: Russia, Iran, and Turkey to make sure the process of de-escalation takes place, not the process of escalation,” Mogherini added.

The UN Security Council on Saturday approved resolution 2401, urging an immediate ceasefire for 30 days to enable aid workers to access civilians in areas across Syria affected by recent bombardments, namely in eastern Ghouta near Syria’s capital of Damascus.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag stated on Sunday that the ceasefire in Syria would have no impact on the ongoing Turkish military offensive on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

On Jan. 20, Turkey announced the military operation intended to drive out the YPG, its Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), and the ruling party Democratic Union Party (PYD) from Afrin.

Ankara views the PYD, and its military wing, the YPG, and the YPJ, as a ‘terrorist’ group and an extension of the outlawed PKK, a group fighting a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish government in Turkey.

Editing by Nadia Riva