TEHRAN – Iranian lawmakers on Sunday issued a statement condemning Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria, which began on Wednesday.

The statement was signed by nearly 100 members of parliament. 

According to Fars, the number of MPs who are signing the statement is rising.

Turkish military forces and Turkish-backed militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Wednesday launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion of northeast Syria in a declared attempt to eliminate Kurdish militants from the so-called People's Protection Units (YPG) to push them away from border areas.

Ankara views the U.S.-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday urging Turkey to immediately stop offensive against northeastern Syria and withdraw its forces from the region.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that security at Syria-Turkey borders can just be provided by the Syrian Army.

“We have announced that security at the north of Syria and south of Turkey can just be provided by the Syrian Army and we should make the grounds for the Syrian Army’s presence in this region. Other countries should help and the United States’ forces leave this region, and the Kurds in this region, which is their own country, should be beside the Syrian Army,” he said at a cabinet session.

MH/PA