Washington extends order for national emergency, Ankara condemns the decision

The Biden administration announced on Wednesday the continuation of an executive order for the national emergency declared two years ago in response to the "unusual and extraordinary threat" caused by the situation in Syria.

It was said in 2019 in a statement by the White House:

"The situation in and in relation to Syria, and in particular the actions by the Government of Turkey to conduct a military offensive into northeast Syria, undermines the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, endangers civilians, and further threatens to undermine the peace, security, and stability in the region, and continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

The national emergency has been extended for one year.

Turkish authorities reacted to the decision on Thursday, accusing White House of making "baseless" claims against a Turkish counter-terror operation in northern Syria.

"The US Executive Order being issued since October 2019 under the title of 'National Emergency with Respect to the Situation in and in Relation to Syria' is identically renewed on October 12, 2022. We condemn this Order which contains baseless allegations and accusations against our country," said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The FM claimed that the Turkish military campaign dubbed "Operation Peace Spring," which led to many civilian deaths and to the displacement of nearly 300,000 people in 2019, had been "carried out on the basis of the right of self-defense" and was in compliance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.