'Grave concern': PM asks Erdogan to stop Syria attacks in phone call
Turkey launched its ground and air offensive in northern Syria on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump cleared the way.
Sunday 13 October 2019 08:06, UK
The UK has expressed "grave concern" about the situation in northern Syria, calling on Turkey to end its military operation in the area.
The Trump administration has since demanded that Turkey halts its offensive, which has seen American forces come under artillery fire, warning the regime that it was causing "great harm" to ties and could face sanctions.
On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and joined calls for him to end the fighting.
But on Sunday morning, Turkey said the offensive will continue for nine more days.
Further concerns have been raised after video released by Kurdish militia supporters, seen by Sky News, showed two prisoners being executed by the side of a road by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.
It also showed the rebels stamping on a Kurdish flag and using a rifle butt to deface a picture of their leader.
Sky News' foreign affairs editor Deborah Haynes, who is on the Turkey-Syria border, said: "If these images are found to be true, they show an undisciplined force.
"It is further evidence of the real ethnic dangers of releasing this in a country that is so unstable.
"It raises questions of ethnic cleansing - that Kurdish families could be indiscriminately targeted."
A Downing Street spokesman said: "[Mr Johnson] expressed the UK's grave concern about Turkey's military operation in northern Syria which he said could further worsen the humanitarian situation there and undermine the progress made against Daesh [IS].
"The prime minister underlined that Turkey is an important partner for the UK and a NATO ally.
"He recognised Turkey's role at the forefront of the fight against Daesh and its generosity in supporting refugees who've fled the civil war in Syria.
"But the prime minister was clear that the UK cannot support Turkey's military action.
"He urged the president to end the operation and enter into dialogue, and said the UK and international partners stand ready to support negotiations towards a ceasefire."
It came after France announced it would stop selling weapons to Turkey that could be used in the conflict, also calling for an urgent meeting of the coalition against Islamic State extremists.
"But the prime minister was clear that the UK cannot support Turkey's military action.
"He urged the president to end the operation and enter into dialogue, and said the UK and international partners stand ready to support negotiations towards a ceasefire."
France and Germany have announced they would stop selling weapons to Turkey that could be used in the conflict, also calling for an urgent meeting of the coalition against Islamic State extremists.
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The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has estimated more than 130,000 people have been forced to flee the fighting and Turkey is reported to have taken Ras al Ain, a key border town, although this is disputed by the Syrian Kurdish forces.
Misty Buswell, policy director at the IRC, told Sky News: "If this continues these number could get more dire.
"These towns, Ras al Ain and Tal Abyad, have become basically empty of people. Everyone has left, they're moving into areas that are already overstretched and under Islamic State for four years previous to this.
"People are really suffering and now they're seeing mass displacement into areas that were just beginning to recover."
She added hospitals in the most impacted areas have been forced to close and those that remain open are becoming overwhelmed.
A water station which provides drinking and washing people for 400,000 people in the area was hit by Turkish government forces, prompting fears of disease spreading as people resort to unclean water sources.
Mr Erdogan says the military action is necessary for national security, arguing that the Kurds in northeast Syria are linked to a terrorist insurgency in Turkey.
Earlier on Saturday, he said: "We will never stop this step we have taken... We will not stop it no matter what anyone says."