Egypt calls for emergency Arab meeting over Turkish offensive into Syria

Egypt called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League over Turkey’s offensive into Syria, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

“Egypt condemned in the strongest terms the Turkish aggression on Syrian territory,” the ministry said in a statement, adding the offensive “represents a blatant and unacceptable attack on the sovereignty of a brotherly Arab state.”

Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria on Wednesday just days after US troops pulled back from the area.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the aim was to eliminate what he called a “terror corridor” on Turkey’s southern border, but European countries called on Ankara to halt the operation.

Turkey had been poised to enter northeast Syria since US troops, who have been fighting with Kurdish-led forces against Islamic State, started to leave in an abrupt policy shift by US President Donald Trump.

The Egyptian foreign ministry, in its statement, “warned of the repercussions of the Turkish move on the unity and territorial integrity of Syria”