ANKARA
Yet more misrepresented photos are showing up online in the terror group PYD/PKK's continued smear campaign against Turkey’s counter-terrorist operation in northwestern Syria .
In a recent piece of disinformation, terrorist supporters tried to portray a girl killed by Saudi airstrikes in Yemen in 2016 as if she was targeted during the Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.
The photo -- an award-winning picture from Anadolu Agency’s 2016 Istanbul Photo Awards taken by Syrian photographer Abd Doumany for AFP, showing a father holding his daughter’s body, splattered with blood -- was posted by the accounts of terrorist supporters with the hashtags #Afrin and #ChildrenUnderAttack.
Smear campaigns against the Turkish military began soon after Turkey launched the operation, with supporters of the PYD/PKK terrorist organization posting fake and deliberately distorted photos on social media falsely claiming they show Afrin.
The PKK terror group has instructed its supporters to spread fake images and news online in an attempt to smear Turkey's ongoing Afrin operation.
Earlier at least 10 pictures shared on social media by pro-PYD/PKK accounts turned out to be old photos taken in completely different circumstances.
After Anadolu Agency reported on them, some accounts posting such fake news and images were shut down.
Turkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.
The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming any civilians.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012, when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without a fight.
Reporting by Fatma Esma Arslan:Writing by Nilay Kar
