German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is to travel to Turkey on Saturday with the aim of pressing for a durable ceasefire in northern Syria more than two weeks after the Turkish military invaded the region.
Maas made the announcement in Berlin on Thursday. Referring to an initiative from Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer for a UN-backed security zone in northern Syria backed up with troops from the European Union, he expressed continuing reserve.
“What is key in the end is what we can agree with our international partners in this situation,” he said. “On this will depend which plans we pursue, and which not.”
Kramp-Karrenbauer’s plans have met with widespread scepticism in Germany and found little resonance among Germany’s allies.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament called for sanctions against Turkey over its cross-border military operation and urged Ankara to withdraw all its troops from Syrian territory.
EU lawmakers warned that the intervention is a “grave violation of international law, undermining the stability and security of the region as a whole,” in a statement adopted during their plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg on Thursday.
They rejected Turkish plans for a safe zone along the border and called instead for a UN-led security zone in northern Syria.
The parliament lashed out at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing him of weaponizing refugees and using them to “blackmail the EU.”
It called for sanctions on Turkish officials responsible for human rights abuse and urged member states to consider economic measures against Turkey.
The EU legislature has no say over foreign policy issues, merely political clout.
