27 December 2016•Update: 28 December 2016
ANKARA
Turkey's deputy prime minister on Tuesday described a Daesh video purporting to show Turkish soldiers in Syria being murdered as “fabricated,” and criticized those who shared the footage on social media.
"Some of our friends in the media sector need to watch their steps,” Numan Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara, adding: “Social media is not a platform to make irresponsible broadcasts. Turkey is at war with Daesh."
He added: "Trying to demoralize Turks by spreading propaganda through sharing fabricated footage is not patriotic."
Kurtulmus said there was no verified information from the Turkish General Staff or Defense Ministry about the images.
"If we had verified information, we would share it with the public. These terrorist groups are the lowest gutter operators in the world. They try to oppress people's minds with fear," he added.
Last week Daesh released a video purporting to show two captured Turkish soldiers being burned alive.
Al-Bab part of Turkey's 'national security'
When asked about allegations of Daesh directing its forces towards the Syrian city of Al-Bab from Mosul, Kurtulmus rejected such claims.
"This is not a logical claim," said Kurtulmus. "In Mosul, the operation has not been finished yet because Daesh resisted strongly," he added.
The deputy prime minister added that the claim is "false and inconsistent" and described the Al-Bab operation as “part of Turkey's national security."
Operation Euphrates Shield began in late August to rid Syria's northern border area of terrorists. Tuesday marks the 126th day of the operation.
Since the beginning of the operation, more than 1,000 Daesh terrorists were "neutralized", according to an earlier briefing by Turkey's Defense Minister.
The Turkish military usually uses the term "neutralized" to refer to dead, injured or captured terrorists.
