On Thursday 25 August, the chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, Elmar Brok (EPP, Germany), and the head of the Parliament's report on Turkey, Kati Piri (S&D, Netherlands), gave their backing to the Turkish operation in Syria.
"We welcome the fact that Turkey is taking measures against Islamic State. This is in the common interest", Brok said at a press conference with Piri following their trip to Turkey, as quoted by Turkish media. He said that the he also welcomed the Kurdish Syrians fighting against Islamic State. "We are all together with Turkey regarding the fight against the Daesh organisation", Piri said. Recalling the ISIL attacks on Turkish territory, she said it was "therefore clear that ISIL was a threat for Turkey". "Of course, I understand the concerns (Ed: about the Turkish military operation), but (...) you have also heard that the main European countries supported this action and we very much hail Turkey intensifying this fight against ISIL", she added.
The European Commission, for its part, said it was "not commenting on a military operation".
During a press conference with his German counterpart Michael Roth, the Turkish minister for European affairs, Omer Celik, said on Thursday 25 August, that Turkey's military operation to take the Syrian town of Jarabulus from Daesh was "essential" for Turkey's security and European security. "The measures that we are taking for our national security are essential both for the EU's security and the security of the world", he said. Referring both to ISIL and to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and its military wing the People's Protection Units, Celik added that Turkey could not "allow terrorist organisations to contorl the other side of the Turkish border".
While Turkey is accused by some of focusing its operation on the Kurds, the Turkish prime minister, Binali Yildirim, described these allegations, on Friday 26 August, as "a shameful lie". "We will continue the operations until the security of our borders is 100% ensured (...) and until we have chased the elements of Daesh out of the region", he told press. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)