MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2019) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to halt Turkey's military operation in northeastern Syria, warning of further destabilization in the region and resurgence of the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia), a spokeswoman to the chancellor said.
"The focus of the conversation was the situation in northeastern Syria after the start of the Turkish military operation. The Chancellor spoke in favor of an immediate end to the military operation. Notwithstanding legitimate Turkish security interests, these threatens to displace large sections of the local population, destabilize the region, and re-strengthen IS," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
The two leaders spoke on the phone Sunday with most of the talk circled around recent developments in Syria, according to the spokeswoman, with Merkel also touching on the subject of Turkish oil exploration in the Mediterranean in territory claimed by EU member Cyrpus.
Erdogan, speaking with Turkish broadcaster NTV, said that he had told Merkel to make a choice between his country and the People's Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the Kurdish Workers' Party which Turkey considers terrorist.
Germany cited the military operation as the reason behind the suspension of arms exports to Turkey.
Turkey launched the offensive against Kurdish groups in northeastern Syria on Wednesday following the abrupt withdrawal of US forces in the region. The US forces had protected Kurdish elements in their self-declared Kurdish Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria following joint operations against IS.
