The Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed the United States for renewing executive order under the title of “National Emergency with Respect to the Situation in and in Relation to Syria” stating that it contained baseless against a Turkish counterterrorism operation in northern Syria, across the Turkish border on Thursday.
“The U.S. Executive Order being issued since October 2019 under the title of ‘National Emergency with Respect to the Situation in and in Relation to Syria’ is identically renewed on Oct. 12, 2022. We condemn this order which contains baseless allegations and accusations against our country. The allegations in the order regarding Operation Peace Spring, which was carried out in order to fight against terrorism, protect border security and eliminate the separatist terror threats originating from Syria, are unfounded,” said the statement by the ministry.
Saying that Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria – an area not controlled by the Bashar al-Assad regime – is being carried out by Turkish forces to eliminate terrorist threats from Syrian territory and protect border security, the ministry called the allegations in the order "unfounded."
“Operation Peace Spring carried out on the basis of the right of self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter and relevant resolutions of the U.N. Security Council on the fight against terrorism, has provided an environment of peace and stability in the region. It ensured the removal of the PKK/YPG and Daesh terrorist organizations from the areas of operation and contributed to the preservation of the territorial integrity of Syria. We expect the U.S. to terminate its engagement with the terrorist organization PKK/YPG and to fulfill the provisions of the Joint Statement of Oct. 17, 2019,” it added.
On Wednesday, the U.S. announced the renewal of its Oct. 14, 2019 order on the situation in and in relation to Syria. The order accused Türkiye's military offensive in northern Syria of "undermining" the campaign against Daesh terrorists and endangering civilians.
On the contrary, the operation and similar cross-border operations were launched to protect the border and locals from the threat of both Daesh and the YPG/PKK terrorist groups.
In 2013, Türkiye became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group.
