Turkey accuses US of not telling truth to Congress, people on Syria

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – The US administration is not telling the truth while sending letters to Congress or informing its people, Turkey's foreign minister said on Saturday in response to Washington's decision to extend the national emergency executive order in Syria.

"Instead of blaming Turkey, the US should abandon its own wrong policies, and should be more honest with the American people and its Congress," Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a joint news conference with his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Felix Plasencia.

The US on Thursday extended the state of emergency decree issued in 2019 for another year, claiming that Turkey's activities in Syria pose a threat to national security.

In 2019, then President Donald Trump had withdrawn most of the US troops in the region from Syria before Turkey's anti-terror operation.

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