Survivor of PYD/PKK violence hails Turkey's operation

By Selman Tur

BATMAN, Turkey (AA) - Suleyman Muhammad Omeroglu, 63, escaped violence by PYD/PKK terror group in Syria's northeastern Hasaka province and sought refuge in Turkey along with his 11 children.

"For 50 years Assad was cruel to us and today the PYD/PKK is committing the same cruelty. Why are they dragging so many of our youth to death and killing them? What are they doing in Raqqah, Deir Zor, Aleppo or Tal Rifaat?" he told Anadolu Agency, referring to conflict-hit regions across Syria.

Omeroglu is among the many residents of Amuda town who fled violence by PYD/PKK terror group in 2013 and arrived in southeastern Turkey’s Batman province.

The year Omeroglu fled, PYD/PKK killed five people, injured 50 others and took many as captives.

He expressed his full support to the ongoing Operation Olive Branch, launched on Saturday in Syria's northwestern Afrin region by the Turkish Armed Forces along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region as well as to protect the Syrian people from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council’s decisions, 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 importance" is being given to not harm 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 putting up a fight.

Omeroglu said he is trying to forget the suffering he experienced with his family in Amuda, where one of his sons-in-law is still held captive by the terror group.

“They did not allow us to wrap our dead in a shroud. Families used blankets to bury their children and loved ones. It is painful that our enemy is from within."

He said the violence, especially by the Assad regime and PYD/PKK, had only spared children and the elderly. Young men and women are killed for standing up against the violence, others are taken captive, while some drown in the sea trying to escape in small boats, he added.

Omeroglu thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish people for hosting them.

"History will bear witness to the good Turkey has done for us, and what Assad and PYD/PKK is doing. Assad has clasped our mouth shut, and PYD/PKK is covering our noses, leaving us no room to breathe.”

“This operation is like Oxygen. We want it to take place all over Syria. Because people need to breathe in the fresh air again,” he added.

He said that the operation may seem like a harsh move, but it is vital for peace in the region.

“It may seem like a storm, a flood, but it will hurry the coming of spring.”