Türkiye on Thursday condemned the PKK/YPG’s use of civilians as human shields in clashes with the Syrian National Army (SNA), which have intensified since the ouster of Bashar Assad last month.
“PKK/YPG terrorists’ use of civilians as human shields around Syria’s Tishrin Dam as well as sending terror groups to the area are violations of human rights,” Defense Ministry sources told reporters at a background briefing in the capital Ankara.
“The use of civilians as human shields by terrorist groups for their own interests is not only an inhumane approach but also an act that shows their desperation and moral bankruptcy,” the sources said.
“The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are determined to block the efforts of terrorist groups such as the PKK/YPG to destabilize the region by using strategic infrastructures like Syria’s Tishrin Dam,” they added.
The YPG is the U.S.-backed extension of the PKK, which has fought the Turkish state in a four-decade terror campaign and is classified as a terrorist group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
The group has occupied swathes of northeastern Syria since 2015 with the help of the U.S., which calls it a “crucial” ally in the anti-Daesh campaign.
Ankara says the YPG is on par with Daesh and should have no presence in the new Syria. It has deployed troops and worked with local allies such as the opposition’s SNA to prevent the YPG/PKK advance and to keep locals safe from terrorist oppression.
Clashes between the SNA and PKK/YPG have climbed in the past month as the terror group sought to exploit the security vacuum and occupy new territories after the anti-regime forces took control of Damascus and toppled the Assad regime.
On the latest situation in post-Assad Syria and the terrorist group PKK/YPG’s use of innocent civilians as human shields around the dam, the Turkish Defense Ministry sources said: “The Turkish Armed Forces believe in the importance of global cooperation and international solidarity against terrorism.”
The sources also stressed that Türkiye expects the international community to recognize terrorist groups such as the PKK/YPG as the terrorist organizations they are and to cooperate more effectively in the fight against terrorism.
They added: “Developments in the region are of great importance for both Syria’s internal security and Türkiye’s border security.”
On Syria’s territorial integrity and its people’s quest for a peaceful solution, they said that if terror groups refuse to lay down their arms, the Turkish Armed Forces are determined to continue its cross-border operations to quell this threat.
“This determination will be maintained until all terrorist elements threatening peace in the region are eliminated to put an end to the activities of terrorist organizations within the framework of international law and the principle of the right to self-defense of the United Nations Charter,” the sources added.
Separately, the ministry’s press representative, Rear Adm. Zeki Aktürk, announced that Turkish counterterrorism operations eliminated a total of 94 terrorists in the past week.
“The number of terrorists eliminated, including the entirety of 2024, has reached 3,164,” Aktürk told reporters. “1,519 of whom were in northern Iraq and 1,645 in northern Syria.”