YPG/PKK sympathizers waging a smear campaign against Turkey's cross-border military operation
Since the onset of Syria offensive that was launched by Turkey-led forces to remove the terrorist elements out of the northeastern region of war-torn country, the YPG/PKK supporters have been continuing a smear campaign against Turkey's cross-border military operation -- dubbed "Operation Peace Spring" -- on the social media platforms by sharing the fake news and photos.
- World
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 01:01 | 13 October 2019
- Modified Date: 01:21 | 13 October 2019
Through a disinformation campaign on social media, YPG/PKK supporters have been attacking Turkey's Operation Peace Spring.
Pro-YPG/PKK social media accounts continue to use photographs of a different scene and time to undermine Turkey's peace efforts in northern Syria.
Terrorist sympathizers are using images of children injured in the past in different places in Syria as if they had been harmed during the ongoing Peace Spring Operation. These fake pictures are then being circulated on social media to smear Turkey's anti-terror action. pic.twitter.com/2opiubuL7o
— ANews (@anewscomtr) October 13, 2019
A case in point is a photo shared on social media of phosphorous bombings during the 2017 U.S. operations in Iraq's Mosul. The social media account which shared the image falsely attributed it to Turkey's ongoing operation -- and it also supports Saleh Muslim, a so-called former leader of PYD/PKK.
"Turkey's army, unfortunately, used prohibited phosphorous bombs in Ras Al-ayn," the account tweeted.
A close shot of a child covered in dust captured by Anadolu Agency's photographer Jawad al Rifai was also wrongly attributed to the Turkish operation.
Turkey on Wednesday launched Operation Peace Spring east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to secure its borders by eliminating terrorist elements and to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees and Syria's territorial integrity.
Ankara wants to eliminate terrorist elements of the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the PYD/YPG, from the region.
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 the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
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