CHP calls for flags to be hung for fallen Turkish soldiers

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has once again pledged full support to the Turkish Armed Forces in its ongoing operation in Syria’s Afrin, calling on citizens to grieve for all fallen soldiers by hanging flags on their buildings. 

“We trust our army, we have no doubt that they will succeed in their mission to fight terror,” Kılıçdaroğlu wrote on Twitter on March 2.

The armed forces announced that eight more soldiers have lost their lives in Afrin, raising the death toll to 41 for Turkey’s military according to official statements.

“Within the framework of the operation, there have been 157 martyrs, 41 of whom are from our Turkish Army Forces and 116 of whom are Free Syrian Army members,” Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli announced on March 2.

“We cover the coffins of our martyrs with a Turkish flag. My citizens, let’s hang the Turkish flag on our homes, offices and working places until our martyrs rest in peace,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Following his call, a large Turkish flag was hung over the main opposition party’s headquarters in Ankara, while Kılıçdaroğlu’s wife Selvi Kılıçdaroğlu was also pictured hanging a flag on their family home.

A number of CHP lawmakers have participated the campaign in their social media accounts, changing their pictures to an image of the Turkish flag.

The CHP supports the operation on the ground of counter-terrorism but has urged the government to refrain from pushing Turkish troops into Afrin’s city center in order to avoid further military casualties.

“I do not approve of an offensive into the center of Afrin because it shouldn’t be about capturing a city. Why did we enter the Afrin district [in the first place]? To eliminate terror organizations on our border,” Kılıçdaroğlu said on Feb. 7.