Cypriot member of the European Parliament Loucas Fourlas on Tuesday accused the Turkish government of partaking in a “purge” of Kurds and Christians in Syria.

“A purge is taking place in the region with Damascus and Ankara as the protagonists. In this tragic reality, therefore, Turkey bears a heavy responsibility. Let those who truly believe that Turkey can be a reliable, strategic partner for Europe listen carefully to this,” he said at the day’s plenary session in Strasbourg.

He said that if the European Union and Turkey strengthen their ties, “we will put a snake in our house and it will eat us”.

“The European Union must demand real protection for national and religious minorities. Our silence today will be complicity tomorrow,” he said.

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Earlier in his speech, he had spoken of how there are “women, children, families who live under the terror of violence again, without electricity, without water.

“The Kurds of the region were the ones who stood on the frontline against Isis. They fought the jihadists, sacrificed themselves, protected not only their land, but international security, too,” he said.

He then said that Syria’s Christian communities are “threatened with extinction today”.

“The forces which fought Isis cannot be abandoned by us today,” he said.

His comments come after Syrian government forces in recent weeks made sweeping advances into territories of the country’s northeast which had previously been held by a Kurdish-led militia, reaching the city of Qamishli, which sits immediately south of the Turkish border, last week.

The arrival of Syrian government forces in the city is part of what has been described as a “phased integration” of Kurdish forces and those loyal to the Syrian government.

With Syrian government forces advancing, fears arose in some circles that government forces may repress the rights of minorities in the region, though the Syrian government itself, and its close ally Turkey, have been at pains to stress that Kurds and Christians’ rights will be assured.

Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations Ibrahim Olabi described the ceasefire as “a success story for all Syrians” during an interview with Greece’s Athens Macedonian news agency on Monday and promised that all Syrians will receive “equal protection … regardless of background”.

On this front, he praised the “vibrant and widely visible” Christmas celebrations enjoyed by Syrian Christians, and said that “when incidents occurred in certain regions, the government took responsibility, facilitated investigations, and cooperated with international mechanisms to restore accountability”.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that his country has “shown an exceptionally high level of sensitivity regarding Kurds in Syria” during an appearance on CNN Turk, and said his government has advocated for Kurdish rights during dialogue with the Syrian government.

“We have talked a lot about the situation of Kurds … They don’t feel a sense of belonging. This feeling of not belonging will bring many problems. This is not an acceptable situation. We have worked on this,” he said.

To this end, he said that “toxic perceptions” between Sunni Arabs and Kurds in Syria “need to be eliminated so that there are no security problems”.

“Hopefully, this chapter will also close in a positive way for both the Kurds and the Arabs. Turkey will then assume that its national security concerns have been addressed, and Syria will move towards a better future,” he said.