22 Dec 2022; MEMO: Turkiye has rejected a Chinese lecture regarding its fight against the People's Defence Units (YPG) in Syria, a group which the Turkish government has designated as a terrorist organisation.
China's Deputy UN Ambassador Geng Shuang accused Turkiye on Wednesday of "repeatedly pounding northern Syria with air strikes and artillery shelling and threatening to launch ground operations." He called at the Security Council for Turkiye to "immediately cease cross-border attacks."
In response, Turkish Ambassador to the UN Feridun Sinirlioglu insisted that, "No country is entitled to give us lectures about our fight against terrorism. We reject the self-entitled statements we listened to today, what we should do, what we should not do while defending our borders and protecting our people.'"
Sinirlioglu noted that Turkiye's determination to fight terrorism is "unwavering" and that it takes all necessary steps to protect its people and ensure the security of its borders. He pointed out that more than 500 civilians in northern Syria have been killed in attacks by the YPG, the wing of the PKK in Syria, during the past two years.
The ambassador added that the PKK/YPG organisation "oppresses the people in the north east and pursues a separatist agenda," and that "supporting this terrorist/separatist organisation under the pretext of fighting Daesh is against the UN resolutions which reaffirm strong commitment to the territorial integrity of Syria."
