Main opposition CHP urges gov’t to show reaction to Trump in emergency meeting

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Oct. 10 held an emergency Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting, urging the government to show a “state reaction” to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “penalizing” remarks about the country’s fresh operation into northeast Syria.

A day after Turkey announced it launched an operation in northeast Syria, the CHP held a special session, focusing on the operation and the country’s stance against external threats.

During the meeting, two topics were discussed in detail, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Oct. 10.

The CHP’s MYK first focused on the U.S. president’s threatening remarks toward Turkey, saying his “penalizing” approach in unacceptable. The board members also put emphasis on showing a “state reaction” against Trump’s approach, saying Turkey’s “honor has been damaged” in the international arena.

Last week, Trump vowed “if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of Turkey.”

The second topic of the meeting was the “lack of dialogue” between Damascus and Ankara.

The CHP has been stressing of the necessity of establishing dialogue between Turkey and Syria, saying “it is the shortcut to peace.”

During the meeting, the importance of direct dialogue with Damascus was discussed, on the basis of the YPG, as both countries are the only two in the world that lists YPG as a terrorist organization.

The U.S.-backed SDF, a group dominated by the YPG, has been controlling some 28 percent of the Syrian territories, including most of the 911-kilometer-long Syria-Turkey border. Turkey deems the YPG the Syrian offshoot of the illegal PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization also by the United States and the European Union.

The dialogue is essential during and after “Operation Peace Spring,” according to the board members.

As for the operation, regular information transfer from the government and military officials is significant in preventing disinformation, the meeting concluded.