Turkey denies targeting Kurds instead of IS in SyriaAugust 26, 2016 - 17:46 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yidirim on Friday, August 26 denounced as a "bare-faced lie" suggestions in Western media that Ankara's military operation in Syria was singling out Kurdish people rather than jihadists, AFP reports. "They either know nothing about the world, or else their job is to report a bare-faced lie," Yildirim snarled when asked to comment on claims the operation was not targeting Islamic State (IS) jihadists but Kurds. He had been asked to respond to an article in German weekly Der Spiegel -- which frequently riles the Turkish authorities -- with the headline "Turkey's Syria operation -- IS is the pretext, the Kurds the target". Yildirim said: "Our soldiers' mission is to ensure our border security and the life and property of our citizens. The news apart from that is just a lie." "You tell lies that Turkey is weak in the fight against ISIS (IS) but when we save innocent lives from ISIS you go and write this," he fumed. Ankara has said it will act in the operation against the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia who it accuses of seeking to carve out an autonomous region in northern Syria. Turkey regards the organisations as terror groups who represent neither the Kurdish nor the Syrian people. The YPG are allies of the United States in the fight against IS but Ankara argues this is a dangerous error. Related links: Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |