China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Geng Shuang told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the country is deeply concerned by Turkey’s hostile actions in Syria, calling for immediate halting and avoidance of any further escalation.

“We must firmly defend Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Syrian national broadcaster SANA cited Shuang as telling Novosti.

Turkey’s and Israel’s actions in Syria “grossly violate” the country’s territorial integrity and could lead to spread of conflict to other areas, Shuang said, calling for a commitment to dialogue. The representative’s comments mark China’s first direct objection to Turkey’s actions in Syria.

Meanwhile German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on her Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to “refrain from measures that would further drive a spiral of violence, such as a possible ground offensive in northern Syria or military action in northern Iraq”, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

Baerbock spoke at the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, saying that civilians must be protected under international law.

Çavuşoğlu, at the same meeting, snapped back at the German minister, accusing Turkey’s NATO ally of “portraying terrorists as victims”.

Turkey holds the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) responsible for the 13 November explosion in Istanbul, which killed six and injured dozens of civilians, and believes the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are also responsible for the attack.

Both Kurdish groups have condemned the attack, and reject any involvement with it. SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has also said Turkey was manufacturing excuses for its current incursion on Syrian soil under Kurdish control.