Yesterday, the Turkish military invaded northern Syria with the aim of occupying Kurdish areas and attacking the Kurdish-led SDF, which bravely fought and defeated ISIS in the region. The SDF liberated areas under ISIS control, rescued tens of thousands of captured Yazidis and established democratic political structures that respect the rights of minorities. It is now under attack by the second largest army in NATO. We have already seen the human rights violations that the Turkish army has committed against Kurds in south-east Turkey. It is clear that these brutal tactics will be replicated in northern Syria. Turkey's attacks will destabilise the region and hamper the fight against ISIS. This is not completely surprising, given that there are many questions surrounding Turkey's covert support for radical jihadist groups in the region. Will the Tánaiste condemn the military operation and outline what Ireland's response to that will be?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As I said yesterday, I am deeply troubled by Turkey's announcement yesterday that it had launched a military operation in north-east Syria. I issued a statement yesterday noting that the fight against ISIS made decisive progress earlier this year. I said that any unilateral military action against groups that played a decisive front-line role in the fight against ISIS risked undermining that progress and could lead to further protracted instability and have serious humanitarian consequences. I urged Turkey, as I do again today, to refrain from this action. While we understand Turkey's security concerns regarding its own territory, unilateral military action cannot be condoned. The protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law must be paramount. The EU has issued a statement making similar points, which I fully support.