QA-51, 21 June 2020, Statement of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hami Aksoy, in Response to a Question Regarding the Statement of the US International Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIFR) on the "Claw-Eagle" and "Claw-Tiger" Operations Carried out Against the PKK Terrorist Organization

Republic Of Türkiye Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 21.06.2020

The statement by the US International Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIFR) on the operations "Claw-Eagle" and "Claw-Tiger" being carried out against the PKK terrorist organization nested in Iraq, is yet again another unfounded remark by this commission.

It is disgraceful, to say the least, for this commission which pretends to defend religious freedom, to criticize our fight against terrorism and become an instrument in the black propaganda of PKK, a terrorist organization also designated by the US as such, by ignoring its atrocities in Iraq and its offshoots PYD/YPG in Syria against local populations including Kurds who do not embrace its divisive policies and terror methods.

Today, Ezidi activists and the local authorities also state the fact that tens of thousands of Ezidis cannot return their homelands due to PKK’s oppression, and those who achieved to resettle face atrocities of the terrorist organization which has nested in Sinjar by taking advantage of the fight against DAESH. Arameans also suffer from systematic persecution by this terrorist organization, their schools are closed, their children are recruited forcibly and taken away from their families. It is unfortunate that so-called human rights defenders have been turning a deaf ear to these facts of the region. As such we can never accept the said Commission championing the terrorist organization by distorting the truths.

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