UN: Turkey’s Operation Threatens a Large Number of Civilians

Photograph: Violaine Martin / UN

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The annual report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was announced with a press conference held at the evening hours yesterday (March 7).

In the statement issued in Geneva, it is stated that "the conflict in Syria has entered a new era of terror" and it is added that "the operation launched by Turkey in Afrin is threatening a large number of civilians."

About the state of human rights in Turkey, the following statements have been made:

"The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has reached the reliable information that a vast number of people are arbitrarily discharged from their jobs, civil society organizations are arbitrarily closed, those arbitrarily taken into custody are arrested on general charges in relation to terrorist organizations, the detainees are tortured while in custody, the freedoms of expression and movement are restricted, private property is arbitrarily confiscated and the families of the suspects as a whole are targeted."

In the statement, it has also been announced that a more detailed report regarding the state of human rights in Turkey under the State of Emergency conditions will soon be published. (PT/SD)

*Sources: UN Official Website, BBC, Deutsche Welle Turkish