Turkey slams EU motion calling for end to Afrin offensive

The Turkish government on Thursday rejected a motion approved by the European Parliament that called for an immediate end to Ankara’s military incursion into Syrian Kurdistan’s Afrin region.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Turkish government on Thursday rejected a motion approved by the European Parliament that called for an immediate end to Ankara’s military incursion into Syrian Kurdistan’s Afrin region.

The non-binding motion urged Turkey to remove its soldiers from the Kurdish region and stressed “the need to focus on defeating the UN-listed terrorist organizations,” mainly the Islamic State (IS) and other extremist groups in Syria.

“Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in the Kurdish-controlled province of Afrin has added a new dimension to the conflict in Syria, raising additional humanitarian concerns and worries,” the motion read.

The EU Parliament document noted that “a high number of civilian casualties has already been reported and that hundreds more civilian lives are at risk,” calling on Ankara to end its offensive.

Omer Celik, Turkey’s minister for EU affairs, told reporters that “the latest decision is the most visionless decision the European Parliament has taken in recent years.”

“Calling on Turkey to withdraw its troops is a clear support for terrorist organizations,” Celik added.

Turkey argues it is protecting its borders from the threat of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a US-backed force which has been battling IS in Syria. Ankara considers the YPG an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and thus labels them “terrorists.”

Meanwhile, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is expected to meet senior EU officials later this month to discuss EU-Turkey relations, also slammed the motion.

“Don’t get your hopes up; we will not leave there [Afrin] until the job is done. The European Parliament has nothing to say to Turkey and whatever it has to say on this issue will go through one ear and out the other,” he said.

Ankara’s ties with the EU have continued to deteriorate since the failed 2016 coup in Turkey, leading to the EU criticizing Erdogan for his crackdown on those he blames for orchestrating the coup.