ANTALYA (AA): Turkey on Sunday rejected recent claims by the US Commissionon International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Ankara’s anti-terroroperations in northern Iraq.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement that it was“shameful” that the USCIRF criticized Turkey’s fight against terrorism andbecame an “instrument” in the propaganda of the PKK terror group.
Aksoy accused the US Commission on International Religious Freedom ofignoring the oppression perpetrated by the PKK in Iraq and YPG/PKK in Syriaagainst the region’s people, including Kurds who did not embrace itsseparatist policy and terrorist methods.
In the statement, he said thousands of Yazidis were unable to return totheir homes in Sinjar, northwestern Iran because of the PKK that lodgeditself in the region under the pretext of fighting the Daesh/ISIS terrorgroup.
Underlining that so-called human rights defenders have so far ignored thesefacts, it said Turkey did not accept the US Commission on Interna-tionalReligious Freedom’s claims that have distorted the truth.
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The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) last Fridayalleged that Turkey targeted fragile areas in northern Iraq particularlythreatening to Yazidi families attempting to return to their homes in thetown of Sinjar.
Turkey’s Operations Claw-Eagle and Claw-Tiger were launched earlier lastweek to ensure the safety of the Turkish people and borders by neutralizingthe threat of the PKK and other terrorist groups.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listedas a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU — has beenresponsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.
