Turkey’s operation in Syria is aimed at fighting terrorism

After reading your editorial “Donald Trump must rethink his strategy on Syria” (October 14), I am obliged to set the record straight, since the article implies that Turkey is currently fighting Kurds in Syria. This is a factually and morally wrong, biased and unfounded allegation.

Turkey has legitimate security concerns and this operation aims at fully eliminating terrorism originating from Syria. Turkey has so far neutralised more than 4,000 Daesh terrorists on its own. This is the most successful anti-Daesh effort carried out by one country within the Global Coalition against Daesh, of which Turkey is a committed member.

The PYD [Democratic Union Party] and YPG [People’s Protection Units] are the Syrian offshoot of the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party], which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US, the European Union and Nato. The PYD/YPG in no way represents the Kurds in Syria. To the contrary, the PYD/YPG has perpetrated terrorist attacks also within Syria, against Syrians, against Kurds themselves. Within only a week, PYD/YPG terrorism killed many civilians, including two babies, in border towns in Turkey.

The operation is being carried out on the basis of international law, in accordance with the right to self-defence as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and the relevant Security Council resolutions. As has been repeatedly stated by the Turkish leadership, Operation Peace Spring will give a chance to at least 1 million displaced Syrians, including Kurds (300,000 Syrian Kurds are currently taking refuge in Turkey), Arabs and Christians alike, to return to their homes after having been subject to ethnic cleansing by the PYD/YPG.

With regard to the Daesh detainees in Syria and their families, I suggest those interested read the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s response to the relevant allegations. As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in his last phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, Turkey will take over custody of Daesh elements and their family members being held in detention facilities and camps in areas to be freed from terror by Operation Peace Spring.

A sustainable solution to this issue is repatriation, prosecution and rehabilitation by countries of origin of all foreign terrorist fighters and their families detained in Syria. Turkey attaches utmost importance to, and will continue to support in every possible way, the joint efforts of the international community in this regard.

Peyami Kalyoncu, consul general of Turkey in Hong Kong