Turkish main opposition calls on gov’t to be discreet on Afrin

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA

The Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) called on the government to make its decisions discreetly ahead of a possible Afrin operation.

Speaking to journalists in the parliament on Monday, CHP Deputy Chairman Ozturk Yilmaz evaluated the operation that the Turkish army might undertake in Afrin, a northern town of Syria.

Yilmaz recalled that a number of other countries also had plans for the Afrin region, adding, "We should see it carefully; with respect to this, we should take a discreet decision."

"We should make a distinction between the incidents over there [in Afrin] and the domestic policy. This is a sensitive issue for the nation," said Yilmaz.

Yilmaz also slammed the decision of the U.S.-led international coalition against Daesh to establish a 30,000-strong new border security force with the SDF -- the U.S.-backed group that is largely controlled and manned by the PKK/PYD terrorist organization in Syria.

"The U.S. role in the region is not constructive but destructive," he said.

Yilmaz noted that the U.S. would try to suppress Turkey, Syria, and Iraq with the new security force formed out of the SDF.

Yilmaz’ remarks came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's speech, where he said Turkey would continue its fight against terrorism on its southern borders through the Afrin operation.

"In the coming days, God willing, we will continue with Afrin [operation] -- as part of what we initially started with Operation Euphrates Shield -- to purge terrorism from our southern borders,” said Erdogan on Sunday.

The Afrin operation will follow Turkey's successful seven-month Operation Euphrates Shield, which ended in March 2017.

Erdogan also said he expected support from allies in Turkey’s fight against terrorism.

The coalition had issued a written statement to some media outlets earlier on Sunday, wherein it said that it was working with the SDF to set up and train a Syria Border Protection Force.

Turkey has long protested the U.S. support for the PKK/PYD, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization, and its military wing PYG, while Washington sees it as a "reliable ally" in its fight against Daesh in Syria.

Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, the PKK has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, which has led to the deaths of more than 40,000 security forces and civilians -- more than 1,200 of them since July 2015 alone, when it resumed its armed campaign against the Turkish state following a fragile cease-fire.