Dental center damaged by PYD/PKK attack soon repaired

By Mehmet Fatih Aslan

KILIS, Turkey (AA) - A dental health center damaged by PYD/PKK terrorist attack in Turkey's southern Kilis province has been repaired in short order, according to the center's head dentist.

On Tuesday, PYD/PKK terrorists fired rockets from the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin across the border into Turkey. The rocket landed on a building under construction in the city center, damaging the nearby dental center.

Abdullah Eraslan, the chief dentist, said the center had never stopped accepting patients but officials had the damage repaired quickly and on Thursday, the center started operating normally.

Eraslan said the rocket was fired at the end of the workday, which prevented any casualties.

"We started repairs the same night and started accepting patients the next morning."

Dentist Sumeye Gulsah Unvali told how the rocket landed just seconds after she sent her last patient to get an X-ray.

"We were frightened by the explosion. All the windows shattered. Then we left the building," she said.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.

Amid the operation, members of the terrorist PYD/PKK have been targeting civilians across the border, injuring or even killing them.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.

The military also said only terror targets were being destroyed and that "utmost importance" was being put on avoiding harming civilians.

Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012, when the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without a fight.