Turkey slams US rights report over 'vague allegations'

ANKARA

Turkey on Friday slammed a recent U.S. human rights report, saying it contained "vague allegations and baseless accusations".

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the Turkey section in the annual report by the Department of State had been prepared "with political motives" and was "far from objectivity".

With 190 country sections every year, the report for 2019 was published on March 11.

The ministry said that the report referred to the FETO terrorist group as "Gulen movement", and perpetrators of the 2016 coup attempt were "portrayed as an innocent civil structure".

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey accuses FETO of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

It said that ignoring ample evidence against the terror group showed that the 2020 report was prepared by elements hostile to Turkey.

The allegations that Turkey’s Peace Spring Operation in Syria targeted civilians "have nothing to do with the facts", the ministry said.

Ankara announced the operation last October in northwestern Syria to secure its borders by eliminating terror elements and ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terrorist operations across its border into northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable peaceful settlement by locals: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

The ministry said there was no explanation for the inclusion of such claims, which are not established by independent and credible institutions.