Turkish politician calls Egyptian parliamentary committee statement criticizing Turkey's efforts against terrorism
A senior Turkish lawmaker has blasted a statement from a group of Egyptian MPs that criticized Turkey's ongoing counterterrorism operations in the region.
Volkan Bozkır, the head of the Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that the Egyptian parliamentary committee’s remarks "reflect all issues in a distorted and one-sided point of view", defining them as “absurd” and “baseless” allegations that attempt to slander Turkey.
He also strongly criticized the Egyptian MPs' portrayal of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying it is "completely unacceptable".
Egyptian MPs' remarks came as Turkey continues to fight terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq simultaneously.
"The Egyptian Parliament Arab Affairs Committee’s approach not only accuses our country of violating Iraq’s territorial integrity but also displaying a stance in support of the PKK, the terrorist organization that poses a real threat to the unity and the integrity of Iraq," Bozkir said.
A major anti-PKK campaign in Iraq's north has seen dozens of PKK terrorists "neutralized" over the past two weeks.
Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the terror group has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when the PKK resumed its armed terror campaign against Turkish forces.
On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear terrorist groups from Afrin, northwestern Syria, amid growing threats from the region.
Reasserting Turkey’s sensitivity to the territorial integrity of its neighbors including Syria and Iraq, Bozkir said: “In this respect, the Turkish Armed Forces' operations against the separatist terrorist groups in Afrin is aimed at eliminating threats against Turkey's national security.”
"The committee is once again targeting Turkey through imaginary allegations, showing the desperate and troubled situation that they are in,” he said.
