- Title: U.N. chief Guterres calls for de-escalation of conflict in Syria
- Date: 10th October 2019
- Summary: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES AND DANISH PRIME MINISTER METTE FREDERIKSEN ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL, ANTONIO GUTERRES, SAYING: "I want to express my deep concerns about the escalation of conflict we are witnessing in eastern Syria. It is absolutely essential to have a de-escalation of this conflict. Military operations must always respect the United Nations charter and international humanitarian law and I am particularly worried with the humanitarian concerns that exist now in relation to not only possible casualties but meaningful displacement that is taking place." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES, SAYING: "I don't believe in military solutions for the Syrian problem or for any other problem in the world. I always strongly believe in political solutions and we have a roadmap of political solutions in Security Council Resolution 2254 and the Security Council, by the way, will be meeting this morning in New York again on the situation in Syria. And one of the things that is also clear is that any solution for Syria will need to respect the sovereignty, the territorial integrity and the unity of Syria." MEDIA FILMING, GUTERRES AND FREDERIKSEN AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES, SAYING: "The problem of peacekeeping forces is as the name indicates, you need to have peace to keep. You cannot have a peacekeeping force where there is no peace to keep. A peacekeeping force is always the result of a political agreement. And of course, if there is a political agreement, and there is peace to keep, a peacekeeping force has an important role to play. We are not yet there, I believe, so at the present moment what we must is to make sure that we have a de-escalation of the conflict in Syria and of course I'm worried with eastern Syria but I'm also worried with Idlib." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS GUTERRES AND FREDERIKSEN SHAKING HANDS FREDERIKSEN POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS GUTERRES POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS GUTERRES AND FREDERIKSEN SITTING DOWN FOR TALKS GUTERRES SEATED EXTERIORS OF PARLIAMENT BUILDING BOAT IN CANAL CYCLISTS RIDING ALONG VARIOUS OF PARLIAMENT BUILDING
- Embargoed: 24th October 2019 19:35
- Keywords: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres de-escalation Turkey northeast Syria Mette Frederiksen Prime Minister of Denmark
- Location: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
- City: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
- Country: Denmark
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0INYH3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday (October 10) called for a de-escalation of the conflict in Syria.
Speaking at a news conference in Copenhagen alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Guterres said "it is absolutely essential to de-escalate."
Turkey pressed its military offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria on Thursday, shelling towns and bombing targets from the air in an operation that has forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
At least 23 fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and six fighters with a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel group had been killed, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors Syria's eight-year-old war.
(Production: Mikael Nilsson, Ilze Filks, Soraya Ali) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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