In addition, the congressmen requested that the Turkish Government be urged to do more to address the humanitarian crisis in north-eastern Syria.
Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Angel (Democrat of New York State) and senior Republican Michael McCall (Texas State) on Thursday called for economic measures to be taken against those responsible for the increased violence in the Syrian province of Idlib. Legislators sent a letter to US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.
“We express our strong concern over the ongoing attacks on the population of Idlib by the regime’s [President Bashar] Assad, Iran and Hezbollah forces”, – the text said. – “We call on you [Pompeo] to use the power at your disposal to apply economic pressure on all those responsible for this bloodshed to bring them back to a truce and political settlement in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254”.
Angel and McCall, in their letter, also called on the State Department to cooperate with other representatives of the U.S. administration “to clearly define the balance of forces and [objectives] of the military mission in Syria in order to provide guarantees to [American] troops and partners.
In addition, the congressmen asked Pompeo to urge the Turkish government to do more to address the humanitarian crisis in north-eastern Syria.
“Furthermore, while we appreciate Turkey’s efforts to stop the offensive [in Syria], we also ask you to encourage the Turkish Government to do more to address the humanitarian crisis”, – the text stresses.
In early February, the situation in Idlib sharply escalated. This happened after the Russian and Turkish military made another attempt to impose a silence regime, but the terrorists only intensified their attacks. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reported on Wednesday that Ankara was ready to use all its fighting power in case of an operation in Idlib. He also said the start of a new military operation in the Syrian province is “only a matter of time” and all preparations for the operation have been completed.