Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party today called for an end to the attack on a Kurdish militia in Afrin, Syria, stressing its role in the fight against jihadists and accusing Ankara of "lying" when it claims there are no civilian casualties in the enclave. .
"Turkey has nothing to gain from the Afrin operation," Pervin Buldan, who was elected co-chair of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) on February 11, told a news conference.
The attack, launched on January 20th by the Turkish army and its Syrian rebel allies, is aimed at ousting the People's Protection Units (YPG) from Afrin enclave, a Kurdish militia described as "terrorist" by Ankara because of its ties. with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebelling on Turkish soil.
But the YPG are also allies of the United States who have become the spearhead in the fight against Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
"People know that the YPG are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (FDS) that fought the ISIS. "We believe the FDS should take part in any settlement in Syria," said Sezai Temeli, the party's other co-chair.
Buldan also said that the Turkish government's statements that there were no civilian casualties from the Turkish attack were "false", as its spokesman Bekir Bozdag reiterated today, according to which "no civilian nose was opened" in Afrin.
"Many civilians were killed in Afrin, including women and children. The government is indulging in misinformation saying that there are no dead civilians and that only "terrorists"? have been killed. "It is a lie," he said.
"In Turkey we also see many coffins of Turkish soldiers who have been killed. "For these reasons, the operation in Afrin must stop."
More than 200 fighters approaching Ankara and 209 YPG members have been killed since the operation began, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also reported 112 civilian deaths, which Ankara denies.
Thirty-two Turkish soldiers were killed, according to the army.