YPG/PKK smear of Turkish operation exposed as false

ANKARA

Supporters of the terrorist YPG/PKK are again mounting smear campaigns against Turkey's anti-terror operation launched last month in northern Syria, but again, their untruths are being dispelled, including a supposed civilian who turned out to be a terrorist.

In the latest such incident, a video posted online shows a man hanging on the door of a moving Turkish military vehicle during joint patrols with Russia, trying to get at the soldiers inside.

In the video, the man falls off the moving vehicle and is apparently hurt.

YPG/PKK-linked social media accounts later falsely claimed that a Turkish armored vehicle caused the death of a local person.

But examination of social media found that the alleged civilian was actually a YPG/PKK terrorist.

Elsewhere on the internet, the same man is shown in front of mortars firing at Turkish territory and setting up the mortars.

Since the start of Turkey’s anti-terror Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria last month, the terrorist YPG/PKK, using mortars fired across the border in Syria, has martyred 17 civilians in southern Turkey – including a woman, two children, and one infant -- and injured 36.

In his personal social media accounts, the same man also published profile photos wearing a YPG/PKK uniform, showing his membership in a terrorist group which targets Turkish soldiers and civilians.

YPG/PKK withdrawal

Under an Oct. 22 deal between Turkey and Russia, the terrorist YPG/PKK is supposed to have pulled back 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Turkey’s border with Syria, followed by joint patrols of the area by Turkey and Russia.

Thus, the YPG/PKK terrorist shown in the video should not have been in the area of the patrols at all.

Turkey has complained that YPG/PKK terrorists failed to withdraw and are still attacking Turkish forces and its allies.

YPG/PKK-linked social media accounts have posted scores of distorted and doctored videos and images following the launch of Turkey’s anti-terror operation to twist the truth and manipulate the international public.

But Turkish media outlets and state officials have researched the doctored posts and exposed their distortions.

Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch in Syria, earlier anti-terror operations in northern Syria led by Turkey, faced similar smear campaigns.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on Oct. 9 to eliminate the terrorist YPG/PKK from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz