Belgium: 'We are urging all parties to de-escalate' - EU official on Idlib situation

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A European Union official called on parties to the conflict in Syria's Idlib to "de-escalate" tensions which he said were "causing unspeakable human suffering" to civilians, after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike in Idlib.

While holding a press conference in Brussels on Friday, European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano stated: "There is a risk of sliding into a very dangerous and major open international military confrontation. So, we are urging all parties to de-escalate, to stop the ongoing hostilities and ongoing confrontations."

"Not only because it's causing a lot of destruction, but it's causing unspeakable human suffering of the civilians, mainly the civilian population in Idlib, which then turns into refugees and is pushed further, either to Turkey or then from Turkey away," he added.

Stano also took the chance to address Friday's movement of migrants towards the EU's borders through Turkey, stating that the EU would if necessary act accordingly after performing its own assessment in contact with EU member states and EU agencies. He also stressed that there were no official Turkish announcements about changes in Turkish policies regarding asylum seekers.

"No announcement of any changes was underlined by the recent statement from today by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which said that there are no changes to the Turkish policy on asylum seekers or refugees or migrants. So in other words, we have not been notified by our Turkish partners that they are changing their policy, which they applied so far when it comes to migrant issues or refugee issues."

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