Members of the PKK/YPG terrorist group stand along a street after anti-regime forces seized the capital and ousted Syria’s Bashar Assad, Hasakah, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024. (Reuters Photo)
DAILY SABAH | Published January 9, 2025
Defense Ministry sources on Thursday highlighted that the terrorist group PKK/YPG took civilians to a strategic location in Syria as a human shield in a clear human rights violation and its members also posed as civilians
Türkiye on Thursday condemned the PKK/YPG’s use of civilians as human shields in clashes with the Syrian National Army (SNA), which have intensified since the ouster of Bashar Assad last month.
“PKK/YPG terrorists’ use of civilians as human shields around Syria’s Tishrin Dam as well as sending terror groups to the area are violations of human rights,” Defense Ministry sources told reporters at a background briefing in the capital Ankara.
“The use of civilians as human shields by terrorist groups for their own interests is not only an inhumane approach but also an act that shows their desperation and moral bankruptcy,” the sources said.
“The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are determined to block the efforts of terrorist groups such as the PKK/YPG to destabilize the region by using strategic infrastructures like Syria’s Tishrin Dam,” they added.
The YPG is the U.S.-backed extension of the PKK, which has fought the Turkish state in a four-decade terror campaign and is classified as a terrorist group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
The group has occupied swathes of northeastern Syria since 2015 with the help of the U.S., which calls it a “crucial” ally in the anti-Daesh campaign.
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SOURCE: www.dailysabah.com
RELATED: Turkish Armed Forces ‘determined’ to prevent terror groups from destabilizing region: Sources
‘Turkish Armed Forces believe in importance of global cooperation and international solidarity against terrorism,’ say National Defense Ministry sources
AA | Published January 9, 2025
The Turkish Armed Forces are “determined” to block the efforts of terror groups such as the PKK/YPG to destabilize the region by using strategic infrastructures like Syria’s Tishrin Dam, Defense Ministry sources said on Thursday.
On the latest situation in post-Assad Syria and the terrorist group PKK/YPG’s use of innocent civilians as human shields around the dam, the sources told reporters at a weekly news conference: “The Turkish Armed Forces believe in the importance of global cooperation and international solidarity against terrorism.”
The sources also stressed that Türkiye expects the international community to recognize terrorist groups such as the PKK/YPG as the terrorist organizations they are and to cooperate more effectively in the fight against terrorism.
They added that PKK/YPG terrorists’ use of civilians as human shields around Syria’s Tishrin Dam as well as sending terror groups to the area are violations of human rights.
“The use of civilians as human shields by terrorist groups for their own interests is not only an inhumane approach, but also an act that shows their desperation and moral bankruptcy.”
They added: “Developments in the region are of great importance for both Syria’s internal security and Türkiye’s border security.”
On Syria’s territorial integrity and its people’s quest for a peaceful solution, they said that if terror groups refuse to lay down their arms, the Turkish Armed Forces are determined to continue its cross-border operations to quell this threat.
“This determination will be maintained until all terrorist elements threatening peace in the region are eliminated in order to put an end to the activities of terrorist organizations within the framework of international law and the principle of the right to self-defense of the United Nations Charter,” the sources added.
Counter-terrorism operations
At the press conference, Rear Adm. Zeki Akturk, the ministry’s spokesman, said operations continue uninterruptedly against all kinds of threats and dangers targeting Türkiye’s survival, especially terrorist groups such as the PKK, its Syrian branch the YPG, and ISIS (Daesh).
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SOURCE: ww.aa.com.tr
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