The chairs of foreign affairs committees in the British, French, German, and European parliaments and the US House of Representatives criticized Turkey's invasion of northern Syria.
Eliot L. Engel, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, David McAllister—Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Norbert Rottgen—Chair of the German Bundestag Committee on Foreign Affairs, Marielle de Sarnez—Chair of the French National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs and Tom Tugendhat—Chair of the U.K. House of Commons Committee on Foreign Affairs issued the following joint statement condemning Turkey’s invasion of Northern Syria:
We, the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the European Parliament and the House of Representatives of the United States of America, jointly condemn in the strongest terms the Turkish military offensive in northeastern Syria. We consider the intrusion as a military aggression and a violation of international law. The Turkish offensive is causing suffering for the local people who are forced to flee and a further instability in Syria and the neighboring region.
We consider the abandonment of the Syrian Kurds to be wrong. The Syrian Democratic Forces, our partner in the Global Coalition, massively contributed to the successful yet unfinished fight against Da’esh in Syria and incurred heavy losses by doing so.
We deeply regret the decision of the President of United States to withdraw American troops from northeastern Syria which marks another landmark in the change of American foreign policy in the Near and Middle East. The turmoil caused by the Turkish offensive may contribute to a resurgence of Islamic terrorism and undermines years of effort and investment to bring stability and peace in this part of the world. Therefore, we hope the United States will take up its responsibility in Syria again.
Equally we call upon the European Union and its member states to take responsibility and engage in the conflict resolution. We are in need of immediate and sustained joint action. There is only one path to follow: a firm and resolute attitude.
This horrible war touches and affects the peoples of our countries in such an enormous way. For that reason, we, as members of our parliaments, feel compelled to making our common position clear. We unite across parties and nationalities to demonstrate our commitment to our common values, responsibility and interests.
18 October 2019