Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Saturday led Arab foreign ministers in lambasting Turkey’s military operation in northeast Syria as an “invasion of an Arab state’s land and an aggression on its sovereignty”.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim, president of the current Arab League session, also condemned Turkey’s offensive into Syria during an emergency meeting of the body, called by Egypt.

The offensive “will exacerbate humanitarian crises, increase the suffering of the Syrian people, and strengthen the ability of terrorists to reorganize their remnants,” Alhakim said.

Alhakim and Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil called on the League to reinstate Syria’s membership in the body.

On Tuesday, Turkey began an air and ground offensive into northeastern Syria against Kurdish militia, opening a new front in the eight-year-old Syrian civil war which has raised the prospect of a new humanitarian disaster.

Turkey had been poised to enter northeast Syria since President Donald Trump ordered U.S. troops, who have been fighting with Kurdish-led forces against Islamic State, to pull out.

The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash also condemned the Turkish offensive.

“We call for the exit of Turkey and its forces, as well as all foreign forces that have violated this Arab country - and to push for a successful political solution,” Gargash said.