Turkey: Main opposition deputy faces inquiry

ANKARA

Turkish prosecutors on Monday began an inquiry into an opposition deputy accused of denigrating the Republic of Turkey in the middle of an anti-terrorist operation in Syria, said a judicial source.

Sezgin Tanrikulu, Istanbul deputy of the Republican People's Party (CHP), is being investigated by prosecutors in the capital Ankara for his comments about Operation Peace Spring, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Turkey last Wednesday launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

Ankara wants to clear northern Syria east of the Euphrates River of the terrorist PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the PYD/YPG.

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.

In a tweet on Saturday as well as an interview, Tanrikulu reportedly called the operation “unjust,” claiming that it is “against the Kurds.”

Turkish officials have stressed that the operation is meant to protect all the people of northern Syria -- Arabs, Kurds, Ezidis, Chaldeans -- from the oppression of the terrorist PYD/YPG.

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur