WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th March, 2020) Credible reports exist showing that Turkey's military operations outside the country's boundaries have led to civilian casualties and Turkish authorities have killed Syrian asylum seekers, the US State Department annual report on human rights said on Wednesday.
"There were credible reports that the country's military operations outside its borders led to the deaths of civilians," the report said.
The State Department said that a June 2019 Turkish airstrike in northern Iraq, where Ankara conducted Operation Claw against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), killed four Iraqi civilian. Turkey has designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.
In addition, the State Department noted that credible reports show the Turkish Jandarma police killed asylum seekers from Syria and other countries who were trying to cross the Turkish border.
"There were credible reports that children were among the asylum seekers killed," the report said.
The State Department also said that Turkey's military operation in northern Syria has led to civilian casualties as well as destruction of civilian infrastructure.
"The government rejected these reports, but acknowledged the need for investigations and accountability related to such reports and relayed that the Turkish-supported Syrian National Army had established mechanisms for investigation and discipline," the report said.
The State Department cited the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and international activist organizations regarding the reports concerning civilian casualties in northern Syria.
