PARIS: The UN Security Council will hold talks about the situation in Syria on Monday, French Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on his Twitter feed on Sunday.
He added that France would press for humanitarian access.
Le Drian said earlier on Sunday that France had called for an emergency meeting of the Security Council over Syria following a Turkish incursion into northern Syria’s Afrin province.
He also condemned indiscriminate bombing by the Syrian regime in Idlib province and asked for immediate access for humanitarian aid to eastern Ghouta, where 400,000 citizens face a critical situation.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has criticized France over its decision.
Cavusoglu told reporters in Baghdad on Sunday that Turkey expected France to stand by an ally country and not with a "terror organization."
Cavusoglu said if France does "not act like ally... then it would be treated as a country that sides with terrorists." Turkey considers Syrian Kurdish militia group that controls the enclave of Afrin to be terrorists because of their affiliation with Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey.
The minister's comments were televised live on Turkish television.
Earlier, France in a statement urged Turkish authorities "to act with restraint in a context where the humanitarian situation is deteriorating in several regions of Syria."
UN Security Council to discuss Syria on Monday
UN Security Council to discuss Syria on Monday
Iran unrest persists, top judge warns protesters
- Demonstrations sparked by soaring inflation
- Western provinces worst affected
DUBAI: Iran’s top judge warned protesters on Wednesday there would be “no leniency for those who help the enemy against the Islamic Republic,” while accusing Israel and the US of pursuing hybrid methods to disrupt the country.
The current protests, the biggest wave of dissent in three years, began last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar by shopkeepers condemning the currency’s free fall.
Unrest has since spread nationwide amid deepening distress over economic hardships, including rocketing inflation driven by mismanagement and Western sanctions, and curbs on political and social freedoms.
“Following announcements by Israel and the US president, there is no excuse for those coming to the streets for riots and unrest, chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran’s judiciary, was quoted as saying by state media.
“From now on, there will be no leniency for whoever helps the enemy against the Islamic Republic and the calm of the people,” Ejei said.
Iranian authorities have not given a death toll for protesters, but have said at least two members of the security services have died and more than a dozen have been injured.
Iran’s western provinces have witnessed the most violent protests.
“During the funeral of two people in Malekshahi on Tuesday, a number of attendees began chanting harsh, anti-system slogans,” said Iran’s Fars, news agency.
After the funeral, Fars said, “about 100 mourners went into the city and trashed three banks ... Some started shooting at the police trying to disperse them.”
The semi-official Mehr news agency said protesters stormed a food store and emptied bags of rice, which has been affected by galloping inflation that has made ordinary staples increasingly unaffordable for many Iranians.
