Closed meeting of the Security Council .. European countries call on Turkey to stop its attack in northern Syria

European Security Council members have called on Turkey to halt its military offensive in northern Syria, following an emergency closed-door meeting of the council, while Washington warned Ankara that it would bear consequences if it did not protect Syrian civilians and did not contain ISIS fighters during the military operation.

Diplomats said the five European countries - France, Germany, Belgium, Britain and Poland - had not succeeded in getting all council members to join their statement, which underscored the Europeans' "grave concern" about the Turkish attack, but without condemning it.

Turkey on Wednesday began a large-scale military operation in northeastern Syria to establish a safe area to prevent the expansion of what Ankara calls terrorist organizations, in reference to the armed forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

"The unilateral Turkish military action does not serve the interests of the allies and risks destabilizing the Middle East and Europe," the joint statement said.

International Coalition
In a related context, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Laudrian called today to convene an emergency meeting of the international coalition to fight ISIS to discuss the Turkish attack on northern Syria, adding that ISIS may exploit the changing situation on the ground.

Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said the Turkish military operation in northern Syria, called the "spring of peace," was "the result of demographic engineering by some partners of the international coalition to fight ISIS, and we warned them for a long time not to do so."

In a press statement after the closed-door meeting of the Security Council, the Russian envoy called on all parties to moderate, adding that Moscow proposed to Ankara to work on the terms of the Adana Agreement signed between Turkey and Syria in 1998, which provides for the cooperation of the two countries in the fight against cross-border terrorism.

US Envoy
US envoy Kelly Kraft told reporters after a closed-door Security Council meeting that Turkey would face consequences if it did not protect the population in northern Syria, did not contain ISIS fighters and ensure they did not exploit the ongoing military operation.

US President Donald Trump said in tweets on Twitter that he was communicating with the Turks and the Kurdish side and was trying to "put an end to endless wars," adding that some wanted the United States to leave the region and let the Kurds fight on their own.

Trump also warned that Turkey would be hit hard financially and with sanctions if it did not comply, warning that he was watching the situation closely.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham published a series of tweets in which he warned against the return of the Islamic State and the regime of Bashar al-Assad and Iran to gain more power at the expense of the United States, Israel and the world at large, against the background of the President's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.

Graham urged President Trump to review his decision and embrace efforts to impose sanctions on Turkey, re-establish safe areas to protect Kurdish partners, and prevent the return of IS.

أوoglu statements
Ankara has responded to US threats. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that his country would retaliate if the United States imposed sanctions for its military intervention in northeastern Syria to target US-backed Kurdish fighters.

The Turkish minister said in a meeting with representatives of foreign news agencies in Turkey that the operation "spring of peace" aims to "eliminate the terrorist elements and dangers that threaten Turkey from the Syrian side, and the establishment of a safe area, and the stability of the region, and enable the Syrians to return to their homes." .