Article, pictures mislead about Turkey’s role in Syria

YOUR edition on Monday carried a news piece from Reuters headlined “Turkey steps up its attacks in Syria” with four photos above depicting the aftermath of barrel bombs used by the Assad regime in Aleppo. The photos, when viewed together with the news piece, mislead the reader, suggesting the massacre in Aleppo was the result of “Turkey stepping up its attacks in Syria”.

The Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria has been using its full military might against its own people since 2011. One of the common tactics of the Syrian government includes dropping barrel bombs on civilians. In 2014, these killed more than 3 000 civilians in Aleppo alone.

The photos used above your news piece are from the latest attack by the Bashar al-Assad regime on Aleppo on Sunday. To put these photo with the news piece about the Turkish army’s Operation Euphrates Shield is unacceptable.

The allegation contained in the news piece itself that the Turkish army is fighting mainly “Kurdish-aligned forces” is another misleading assertion. We are assisting the Free Syrian Army fend off mainly DAESH (Islamic State). I’ll try to simplify it – these are the bad guys who execute whoever opposes them by cutting their throats. I will not go into their so-called religious aims, to refrain from putting them in the same picture with Islam.

The Turkish army is also helping the Free Syrian Army to push out so-called “Kurdish-aligned forces”. These forces are simply off-shoots of the terrorist organisation PKK that has killed tens of thousands in south-east Turkey.

Witness accounts prove these thugs are no better than DAESH when it comes to cleansing the areas they capture from other ethnicities. A terrorist is a terrorist.

Turkey will not tolerate any terrorist group establishing itself along its borders. These organisations are a direct threat to our national security and our borders.

DAESH rocket attacks in the border areas resulted in the deaths of 21 of our citizens. DAESH terrorist attacks have claimed the lives of hundreds of our citizens. Most recently, 54 fell victim to a suicide attack in Gaziantep on August 20.

Against this backdrop, Operation Euphrates Shield was initiated on August 24. This operation is supported by International Coalition’s air force and includes elements of Turkish Armed Forces.

Turkish military presence in northern Syria is based on the notion of self-defence as outlined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. We will continue to exercise our right to protect our national security.

The objective of this operation is to assist the Syrian opposition on the ground against DAESH. We intend to continue to support the Syrian opposition until DAESH is cleared from this area entirely.

Turkey will not accept any unilateral moves or agendas executed against the will of the majority of the Syrian people nor allow terrorist organisations to take hold in a region that has critical importance for our national security.

We aim to contribute to the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity. Turkey will continue to support a transition process that will initiate a genuine transformation in Syria that reflects the will of the people and bring stability, prosperity and security. Kaan Esener Ambassador, Embassy of Turkey Pretoria

Syrian regime drops bombs on its own people