CANBERRA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Australian government has called for a halt to the Turkish military operation in northern Syria.
Canberra voiced its concerns by calling in the Turkish Ambassador to Australia to its Department of Foreign Affairs and the Australian Ambassador in Ankara Marc Innes-Brown has put the Australian concerns to counterparts in the Turkish capital.
In a joint media release on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government "is deeply troubled by Turkey's unilateral military operation into northeastern Syria."
"Actions of this nature will have grave consequences for regional security and could significantly undermine the gains made by the international coalition in its fight against Da'esh, which remains a serious threat to regional peace and security despite its territorial defeat," they said.
According to The Canberra Times on Friday, the Opposition Australian Labor Party also called on Turkey to stop its military advance but broke with the government on the cause of the crisis, blaming United States President Donald Trump for creating the conditions for the new conflict.
Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the situation was caused by the United States' decision.
"It is true that this is military action launched by Turkey. It has, however, been enabled by the decision of the Trump Administration to withdraw U.S. forces from Northern Syria," Wong said.
Earlier, Morrison defended President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria.
"The decision of the United States is a matter for them. It's a sovereign position of the United States," Morrison said, according to The Australian on Thursday.
"As I said yesterday it's a statement of fact and not a statement of commentary. This decision is consistent with statements the President has been making for some time."
