Turkey to 'not allow' looting in Syria's Afrin region

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey is "seriously" looking into looting claims in Syria’s Afrin town center, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.

The Turkish military and Free Syrian Army recently cleared the town center of YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists during Operation Olive Branch that was launched on Jan. 20.

"We -- the Turkish nation, state and government -- are against everything inhumane," Cavusoglu said.

"Our soldiers and the Free Syrian Army are not YPG/PKK terrorists."

The foreign minister said terrorist groups like the YPG/PKK-Daesh carried out looting in Afrin during their attempts at ethnic cleansing.

He said all complaints about looting would be taken seriously.

"When there are complaints on such an issue, we have to take it seriously."

About cooperation with the U.S. over Syria's Manbij, the minister said the administration and security of the area would be determined through demography after the YPG/PKK retreats from Manbij.

"Demography is going to be the key criteria in Manbij," Cavusoglu said.

He said if the Manbij model gets implemented successfully then there would not be a need for an operation in Sinjar.

However, if the plan in Manbij remains unimplemented, then there would be only one thing to do: “To eliminate terrorists.”

The terrorists would be hit “not just on the east side of the Euphrates River, but also in Iraq”.

The top diplomat also said Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump will speak over the phone later Thursday.