Turkey never used chemical weapons in Syria: Diplomatic sources

ANKARA/ WASHINGTON

Turkey has never used chemical weapons in its operations in Syria, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Feb. 17, after the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and a monitoring group accused it of carrying out a gas attack in the Afrin district. 

“These are baseless accusations. Turkey has never used chemical weapons. We are taking utmost care of civilians in Operation Olive Branch,” the source reportedly said.

The source described the accusations of wounding six civilians through a suspected gas attack as “black propaganda.”

The U.S. has also said it is “extremely unlikely” that Turkey used chemical weapons in Afrin, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Feb. 18, citing a White House official.

“We are aware of the reports but we cannot confirm them,” said the White House official, who wished to remain anonymous, referring to recent claims of the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish military.

“We continue to call for restraint and the protection of civilians in Afrin,” the official added.

The claims came after Syria’s state-run news agency SANA and some other outlets quoted YPG militants on the ground in Afrin and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).