Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu
24 October 2019•Update: 24 October 2019
ANKARA
Ankara thanked Palestine on Thursday, after the authority refrained from signing a condemnation by the Arab League against Turkey's Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria.
Meeting Palestine's ambassador to Turkey, Faed Mustafa in the Turkish parliament, the head of the Turkish-Palestinian Parliamentary Friendship Group Hasan Turan said Turkey's link to Palestine would suffer due to fake news.
"We thank Palestine which did not put its signature on the Arab League's condemnation, and did not send any representative to the [Arab League] meeting along with Libya, Sudan and Qatar," said Turan.
News reports circulated at the onset of Turkey's anti-terror operation claimed Palestine supported the Arab League's condemnation.
Turan said Turkey gave the necessary response to whoever wanted to manipulate the Turkish nation against Palestine, suggesting that the propagators of such reports supported "murderer and terrorist Israel".
Claiming Turkey’s operation was a violation of the sovereignty of an Arab country, the bloc misrepresented Turkey's efforts as a threat to Syria’s territorial integrity.
Mustafa, for his part, said Palestine always backed Turkey's fight against terrorism and "other political issues".
"On the first day of the operation, before the Arab League meeting, there were various social media reports that 'Palestine condemned Turkey.' Such news and disinformation upset us," said Mustafa.
He added: "Today, we came here to show you that these reports were not correct. Palestine is always with Turkey with its state and nation."
On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists 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 deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
