Türkİye, Middle East

PYD/PKK continues smear campaign against Afrin op

Terror group uses picture of Chechnya refugees taken in 1995 in a bid to undermine Operation Olive Brach

21.03.2018 - Update : 21.03.2018
PYD/PKK continues smear campaign against Afrin op

ANKARA 

The PYD/PKK terror group continued its smear campaign on social media against Turkish military-led Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region.

Twitter accounts backing the terrorist group are using old and irrelevant pictures without hesitation; they even tried to portray a photo from 1995 about the Chechnya refugees as if it was taken during the ongoing operation in Afrin.

The picture taken in Grozny by Eric Bouvet shows the desperation of an old woman among wrecks during Chechnya war in 1995.

Another photo of a child posted on social media with the hashtag “AfrinGenocide” turned out to be a picture from post-Assad regime attack in Eastern Ghouta.

The terror groups have been trying hard through their lies to convince the international community that the Operation Olive Branch also targets civilians in Afrin, which is not the case.

Another photo of two injured children posted on Twitter was actually taken in 2014 in a Douma hospital by award-winning photojournalist Abd Doumany.

All the claims made by the terror groups and their backers are false since the pictures are proved to be taken in different regions even before the launch of Operation Olive Branch.

The PKK terror group has given instructions to its supporters to post false and fake images ahead of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in a bid to undermine the operation.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the aim of the Afrin operation is to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region, and to protect the Syrian people from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.

Only terrorist targets were being destroyed and "utmost importance" was being given to not harm any civilian, according to military.

The PYD/PKK is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group, which has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.

Reporting by Fatma Esma Arslan:Writing by Seyit Ahmet Aytac

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