The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged EU nations to bolster security near its diplomatic missions after pro-Kurdish activists hit European streets to protest Ankara's offensive in northern Syria
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged EU nations to bolster security near its diplomatic missions after pro-Kurdish activists hit European streets to protest Ankara's offensive in northern Syria.
Last week, Kurds and their sympathizers staged rallies in Belgium, France, Germany and Greece to call for more pressure on Turkey. In the Belgian city of Liege on Friday, police even had to use a water cannon to prevent clashes between local Kurds and Turks, according to media reports. In Berlin, after similar protests, a Turkish diplomatic vehicle caught fire in the early hours of Friday, with police not ruling out arson.
"In spite of all the notices given to the relevant countries' authorities, we witness in deep concern that the increase in the number of violent demonstrations and actions committed by PKK [the Kurdistan Workers' Party, banned in Turkey] fractions especially in the European countries is still continuing," the Turkish ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The ministry reiterated that Ankara expected Europe to boost measures to "protect our diplomatic and consular missions, the safety of life and property of our citizens and personnel abroad, and to preserve the Turkish interests."
Turkey launched an offensive in northern Syria on October 9 in a bid to create a "safe zone" along the border that would be free of Kurdish militias, considered by Ankara an extension of the PKK.
Though Ankara insists that, among other things, its operation seeks to create conditions for refugees' return to the region, the military operation has already displaced at least 160,000 Syrians, the United Nations said on Monday.
Damascus, which sees the operation as an assault on Syria's sovereignty, has sent its forces to the north to counter the Turkish offensive. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the Syrian army had taken control over Manbij, Dadat and Umm-Mial.
