24 August 2016•Update: 24 August 2016
ANKARA, Turkey
Two leading Turkish opposition parties, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), backed Turkey’s military operation against Daesh in Syria on Wednesday.
MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said in a statement the Turkey-Syria border should be cleared of terrorists.
“Providing security in the region of Turkey- Syrian border, by completely cutting off Daesh’s routes of logistics and human resources, and also by preventing terrorists from infiltrating our border are the most urgent requirements,” Bahceli said.
“Nationalist Movement Party sees the operation in [Syria's] Jarablus region as a very positive development and fully supports it,” he said.
“I would like to express in a clear and strong way on this occasion that we stand behind the political will’s determined and uncompromising attitude,” he added.
He said clearing Jarabulus from Daesh would be an important step in the elimination of security threats against Turkey.
Separately, speaking at a press conference after the party's central executive board meeting, CHP spokeswoman and Deputy Chair Selin Sayek Boke called Daesh a “monster”, which continues to be a threat in the region and Turkey.
She expressed her party’s support for the government and the military’s Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria, which was launched early Wednesday, when artillery and airstrikes were followed by Turkish tanks crossing the border to target Daesh and the PYD in support of the Free Syrian Army fighters.
Turkey considers the PYD to be the Syrian affiliate of the terrorist PKK organization.
“Daesh continues to be the most important threat to Turkey. Daesh is a monster,” she said.
She praised Turkish soldiers inside Syria and wished them a safe return to Turkey.
Boke urged the government to fight against Daesh inside and outside Turkey. “Unfortunately, it’s been late in fighting against Daesh in inside and outside,” she added.
Since January, rocket attacks on the Turkish province of Kilis from Daesh-held territory in Syria have killed at least 21 people, while terrorist attacks in Gaziantep blamed on Daesh include Saturday’s suicide bombing of a wedding that killed 54 and a car bomb attack in May that martyred two police officers.
Meanwhile, the PYD -- which controls a swathe of northern Syria along the Turkish border -- has been accused of carrying out ethnic cleansing in areas under its control, arbitrarily detaining political opponents and forcing civilians to fight. The group is the Syrian branch of the PKK terror group that has waged war on Turkey since 1984.
