Turkey Continues Offensive in Syria, Detains Critics

 

Turkey says its forces have set up a military position near the Syrian city of Aleppo for the first time ever.

The Turkish army described the camp as the deepest post its forces have established inside northwest Syria under a deal with Russia and Iran. The three countries say the agreement is aimed at reducing violence in the area.

Also on Monday, Turkey’s government said it has detained nearly 600 critics of its military offensive in Syria. Turkish officials have repeatedly warned they would punish those opposing, criticizing or misrepresenting the offensive.

Officials have named the air and ground campaign Operation Olive Branch.

The interior ministry¹ described the campaign in a statement. It said, “Since the start of Operation Olive Branch, 499 people have been detained for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media and 124 people detained for taking part in protest action.”

Turkish forces launched the offensive in northwest Syria last month. The operation is directed against YPG, an ethnic² Kurdish militia³, in Syria’s Afrin area. The United States has provided support to the group.

Turkey’s mainly pro-government media and most political parties have expressed support for the military operation. But last week, a government lawyer ordered the detention⁴ of 11 members of the Turkish Medical Association, including its chairman. The association had criticized the raid, saying, “No to war, peace immediately.”

The group said that all of the doctors had since been released on probation⁵. It reported their release on the social media network Twitter.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized opponents of the military intervention⁶ in Syria as “traitors.”

The Turkish government considers the YPG militia a terrorist group. It says the milita is tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has fought against the army in Turkey’s southeast for more than 30 years.

Turkey’s deepest movement yet into Syria

Turkey’s announcement of the military post came six days after a large number of military vehicles came under attack near Aleppo and had to pull back.

Under the deal with Iran and Russia, Turkey agreed to set up 12 observation posts in Idlib and neighboring provinces.

However, violence has not decreased under the agreement. In December, the Syrian army, working with Iranian-supported militias⁸ and Russia aircraft, launched an offensive in Idlib province.

The Syrian civil war has lasted nearly eight years and driven 11 million people from their homes. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the fighting.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

probation – n. a period of time when a person who has made a mistake or committed a crime is permitted to stay out of jail although they are watched

traitor⁷ – n. someone not loyal to their own country

association – n. an organization or group

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

5 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

8 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网