Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) “condemn the recent arrests of journalists, activists, doctors and ordinary citizens for expressing their opposition to Turkey’s military intervention in the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin in Syria,” the parliament stated after a session on Thursday.
Turkey arrested hundreds of people who have criticized its military operation, allegedly posting “terror propaganda” on social media, and participating in protests.
The European lawmakers said they are also “seriously concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the Turkish assault and warn against continuing with these disproportionate actions.”
Turkey launched its Operation Olive Branch on Afrin, northwest Rojava, on January 20 with the stated aim of clearing “terrorists” from its borders. Turkey believes the Syrian Kurdish groups, the armed YPG and the ruling political party PYD, are branches of the PKK, a named terror group. The Kurdish groups deny the charges.
Turkey’s army, ranked the fourth strongest within NATO by Global Fire Power, is backing elements of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in its operation on the canton of the self-autonomous Rojava region that is nearly encircled by Turkey or its proxies and is currently home to 323,000 people, according to UN figures. Of them, 192,000 are in need of humanitarian aid and 125,000 are IDPs.
At least 140 civilians have been killed, according to Afrin health officials.
Despite its superior fire power, Turkey has made slow progress in the nearly three weeks of its operation, with the YPG putting up stiff resistance in Afrin’s mountainous border regions, which Ankara claims the Kurdish forces use to launch missiles into Turkey.
While Turkey’s NATO allies in Europe and the United States have largely said they understand Ankara’s security concerns, they have urged Turkey to limit its operation, avoid civilian casualties, and not draw focus away from the war against ISIS in Syria.
“One can understand that Turkey wants to ensure the security of its borders, it’s a legitimate right, but ensuring the security of its borders does not mean killing civilians,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told France’s BFM TV on Wednesday.
Responding to Le Drian, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry expressed regret about his “unfortunate and groundless statements.”
Turkey has “repeatedly emphasized that all precautions have been taken to avoid harm to the civilian population during the conduct of the operation. Accordingly, there have been no civilian casualties in the operation area to date,” the ministry stated on Thursday, adding that it expects “solidarity” from allies in the war against “terrorists in Afrin.”
VP of the EU parliament, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, told Rudaw that many European nations have failed to strongly condemn Turkey's offensive because they are "blackmailed" by the migrant deal.
