TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Thursday that coordination with Syrian government is required in order to fight terrorism in the country.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has announced many times that fighting terrorist groups in Syria’s soil should be coordinated with the country’s central government and based on a respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity [of Syria] as a basic principle of the international law,” he said.

He added, “We have always stressed that fighting terrorism is an international responsibility and it is necessary for regional countries to counter this evil phenomenon in joint collaboration.”

Qassemi’s comments came in response to Turkey’s action in deploying military forces and tanks to the northern Syrian border city of Jarablus.

According to Reuters, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and senior government officials have made clear that the aim of the “Operation Euphrates Shield” is as much about stopping the Kurdish YPG militia seizing territory and filling the void left by Islamic State as it is about eliminating the ultra-hardline Islamist group itself.

A Turkish security source said the army shelled the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in south of Jarablus. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency described the action as warning shots.

NA/AK