UPDATE - Greece’s approach towards migrants ‘inhumane’

UPDATES WITH FURTHER REMARKS BY SPOKESPERSON OMER CELIK, CHANGES HEADLINE

By Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s ruling party on Monday criticized Greece for hurling tear gas shells on irregular migrants and for killing one of them.

“It is an inhumane approach that Greece fires teargas shells [at migrants] and killed of them,” Omer Celik, the spokesman for the Justice and Development (AK) Party, said at a news conference in the capital Ankara.

Celik said the suffering of four million Syrians in Idlib, northwestern Syria, was a result of the failure to set up a safe-zone in the region, and allies’ “inability to fulfill their obligations.”

Those who mobilized for the sake of oil-fields in Syria did not realize the grievances of weary displaced civilians, whereas Turkey welcomed them with open arms, he said.

"Turkey is in no position to overcome another influx of refugees," the AK Party spokesman said.

In the past few days, over 120,000 migrants crossed to Europe after Turkish officials announced they would no longer try to stop irregular migrants from reaching the continent.

Turkey currently hosts about 3.7 million Syrians under temporary protection status and accuses Europe of not sharing the country's burden in this aspect.

When asked about Turkey’s political stance in Syria, where Ankara administration has intensified its military campaign in a bid to stop imminent migration crisis and use its right of self-defense, Celik said:

“Is Syria individual estate of [Bashar al-] Assad, or it belongs to Syrians?... We believe Syria belongs to Syrians.”

He stated the current situation in Idlib was the result of the Assad regime’s pursuit to increase tension, adding the regime has killed 1,500 innocent civilians, wounded over 5,000 and displaced about 1.5 million people since May 26.

Emphasizing that the Assad regime did not refrain from targeting the civilian infrastructure, Celik said the regime attitude towards Syrians has been “genocidal.”

The spokesperson noted Turkish military presence in northern Syria was in line with the self-defense rights enshrined at the UN Convention's Article 51 and Adana deal of 1998 -- which allows Turkey to launch cross-border anti-terror operations in Syrian territories -- as well as Sochi and Astana deals.

He said Turkey did not seek any confrontation with Russia and its operation targeted belligerent regime elements only.

The ruling party spokesperson called on the Moscow administration to fulfill its obligations as part of its guarantor role.

Turkey on Sunday launched Operation Spring Shield after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and dozens injured in an Assad regime airstrike in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkey’s southern border, on Feb. 27.

Turkey’s only target during the operation is Assad regime soldiers and elements in Idlib under the nation's right to self-defense, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said earlier in the day.

The martyred Turkish soldiers were working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia, which prohibits acts of aggression in Idlib.

But more than 1,300 civilians have since been killed in attacks by Assad and Russian forces in the zone, as the cease-fire continues to be violated, sending about a million refugees towards Turkey's border with Syria.