France Concerned Turkey Offensive Could Hurt Islamic State Fight
France Concerned Turkey Offensive Could Hurt Islamic State Fight
(Bloomberg) -- France said Monday it was concerned about Turkish plans to launch an offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Syria, urging it not to take any measures that would undermine international efforts to defeat Islamic State.
Islamic State “remains a significant threat to our national security. In Syria, the organization still has significant resources and capacities for action,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We call on Turkey to avoid an initiative that would run counter to the interests of the global coalition” against Islamic State.
France, which along with the U.S. and U.K. is part of the coalition to fight IS, has much at stake in Syria. The Kurdish YPG that Turkey wants to push from border areas in northeastern Syria was a key partner in the fight against the jihadist group and has tens of thousands of IS fighters and their families in its custody in camps and centers. They include foreign fighters that traveled to Syria to join Islamic State from European countries including France, which does not want them back.
Donald Trump has expressed frustration that European countries have refused to take the IS fighters, and said Monday that his country would not stand in Turkey’s way.
“Terrorist combatants in detention, including those of foreign nationality, must be tried where they have committed their crimes,” the French statement said. “This trial and their safe detention in northeastern Syria are also a security imperative to prevent them from strengthening the ranks of terrorist groups.”
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Parliament in May that about 450 French citizens, including children of Islamic State followers, were either being held by the Kurds or were active in northern Syria.
To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Lin Noueihed
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