Appeals All Parties To Reduce Tensions In Northern Syria, UN Envoys: Concerning And Hazardous

Illustration of joint patrols of the Turkish and US military in Syria. (Wikimedia Commons/Spc. Alec Dionne)

JAKARTA - UN Special Envoy Geir Pederson asked Ankara, armed opposition groups and US-backed Kurdish forces, to immediately reduce regional tensions, as the Turkish military prepares for a possible land invasion of northern Syria.

"I'm here personally today to let you know, escalation dynamics is happening, it's worrying and dangerous," Pederson told the UN Security Council in New York.

Furthermore, he warned board members that large-scale military operations by 'one actor' could have a domino effect on 'all theaters'.

For months, he continued, there has been a slow increase in reciprocal attacks in northern Syria between the Syrian Democratic Forces on the one hand, against Turkey and armed opposition groups on the other, with violence widespread over Turkish territory.

The UN envoy for Syria stressed that the current escalation, after three years of relative calm, has the potential to further disrupt the situation at home and abroad.

According to him, a terrorist group that is defeated but not defeated, can take advantage of the instability that occurs.

"Syria needs less military activity, not more," he reminded the council.

Meanwhile, Turkish Ambassador to the United Nations Feridun Sinirlioglu said the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK and YPG, mostly Kurdish militia groups known as the People's Defense Unit, were 'terrorists' organizations that pose an important threat to the national security of their country.

"No member state can tolerate intentional attacks on the people or their territory, neither should they," he said.

He added that Turkey would continue to carry out counter-terrorism operations to protect its people and ensure border security, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions on the fight against terrorism.

"You can change the name of this terrorist organization as much as you want, but don't change its intentions. You can't change the fact that it's a terrorist organization, with the blood of Turkish-Syria civilians in his hands," Sinirlioglu said.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would order a ground invasion of northern Syria and attack Kurdish groups, following the November 3 explosion in Istanbul which killed six people and injured dozens more.

He also launched a series of airstrikes against militant-suspected targets in northern Syria and Iraq over the past week, in retaliation for the bombings that Ankara accused Kurdish groups of.

President Erdogan said the attack was "only the beginning" and the Turkish armed forces "will overthrow terrorists by land at the most comfortable time."

Meanwhile, the group denied involvement in the alleged bombings, saying Turkish attacks threatened the war against ISIS.