Khaled Issa, who represents the Kurdish rebel authority in France, accused foreign powers of abandoning the Kurds who have been allies on the ground in the fight against Islamic State (IS).

"There's a moral responsibility for the international community in the face of an unjustified and illegal aggression," Issa told AFP on Monday, March 19, referring to the Turkish-led offensive on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

"What is happening in Afrin is ethnic cleansing and the great powers are spectators," added Issa, who represents the "Rojava self-ruled Democratic Administration" which runs areas under Kurdish control in northern Syria.

"We are frustrated to see that the same fighters that were courageously combatting Daesh [Islamic State] have been left to the mercy of the Turkish army allied with jihadists, abandoned under the bombs of Ankara," Issa said.

Reporter’s code: 50101