UN envoy expresses concern on Syria

China is "greatly concerned" over the situation in northeast Syria and is calling on Turkey to stop military operations there to avoid making the humanitarian situation worse, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said Wednesday.

Zhang laid out China's position on northeast Syria while meeting with media after Security Council internal consultations at UN headquarters in New York.

"Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity should be respected and safeguarded," he said, adding that political settlement is the only way out, and military means "will lead to nowhere".

Zhang said China is calling on Turkey to stop the military operation and return to the right track of political settlement.

"China urges Turkey to take up its responsibility and work with other countries to jointly fight terrorism," he said.

During the UN consultations Wednesday, the council listened to briefings by Mohamed Khaled Khiari, UN assistant secretary-general for Asia and the Pacific, and Mark Lowcock, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

Members of the council exchanged views on the situation in Syria and Turkey's military operation.

Ambassador Jerry Matjila, president of the Security Council and permanent representative of South Africa to the UN, said that the council members expressed deep concerns over the risks of the dispersion of terrorists, including from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and over a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation.

Zhang told the media that the unilateral military operation by Turkey has made the situation more complex and fragile and worsened the counterterrorism situation in Syria.

Zhang said it could result in ISIL staging a comeback and posing a threat to peace and security in Syria, the Middle East and even the wider world. The situation in Syria intensified when the US withdrew its forces from the disputed area earlier this month.

After a phone call on Oct 6 with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, US President Donald Trump abruptly halted five years of US policy with his decision to withhold protection from Syria's Kurds and to withdraw about 50 special operations forces from the disputed area, and then the roughly 1,000 US troops in northern Syria.

"So you have Syria and you have Turkey," Trump said Wednesday. "They're going to argue it out, maybe they're going to fight it out. But our men aren't going to get killed over it."

Zhang said that China opposes the use of force in international relations. China believes that all parties should observe the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, and solve problems through political and diplomatic means under the framework of international law.

Zhang told the media that the parties in Syria agreed recently to establish a constitutional committee. China supports the UN's continued efforts of mediation to ensure the implementation of Resolution 2254 calling for a cease-fire in Syria and a political settlement that accommodates the concerns of all parties.

Reuters contributed to this story.