PKK/PYD drug militants to face Turkish soldiers: FM Çavuşoğlu

ANKARA

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) drug militants before sending them out to the battlefield to face Turkish soldiers, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter on Jan. 28.

“The PKK and the PYD know very well that no one with some commonsense dares to stand against Turkish soldiers. That is why they [PKK/PYD] give terrorists drugs and push them out to the field,” Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter.

“Our glorious army today [Jan.28] liberated Mount Bursaya and we will soon clear Arfin of all hashshashins,” he said.

In his tweet, Çavuşoğlu also shared a picture, purportedly showing of a pack of drugs, seized during operations in Mount Bursaya

Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch” to remove People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants from the district of Afrin in northern Syria.

The YPG is the military wing of the PYD, which is the Syria extension of the outlawed PKK.

The Turkish army and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces on Jan. 28 captured the strategic Mount Bursaya in northern Syria as part of “Operation Olive Branch.”

Çavuşoğlu’s remarks came after state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the Turkish military on Jan. 28 seized a large number of drug pills on Mount Bursaya

The drugs were seized during search activities by the Turkish military and FSA members in shelters and positions on the summit of Mount Bursaya, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Turkish military said on Jan. 28 that a total of 557 YPG and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants had been “neutralized” since the beginning of “Operation Olive Branch.”

“Neutralized” is a term used by the Turkish military and officials to indicate militants were either killed, wounded or captured.