Erdogan files criminal complaint against French magazine accusing him of ethnic cleansing

Mahmoud Mohammadi

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filed a criminal complaint against French magazine Le Point after it accused him of carrying out ethnic cleansing operations in northeastern Syria, AFP reported.

The front page of the weekly magazine Le Point carried a picture of Erdogan presenting a military salute accompanied by the words “Ethnic cleansing, Erdogan’s way” and “Are we going to let him kill the Kurds?”

Occupation of Syria

Erdogan sent troops to northeastern Syria on October 9 to attack the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which he accuses of terrorism and links to Kurdish rebels in his country.

Under a ceasefire plan that is now being implemented by Turkey, the YPG must withdraw from the area to a depth of 32 kilometers. Ankara hopes to establish what it calls a “safe zone” so that it can resettle the Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey.

Turkey’s Western allies have denounced the attack and expressed concern that the repatriation of refugees would change the demographics of the border region, which is predominantly Kurdish.

Continued criticism

Meanwhile, the Anadolu news agency said Erdogan had asked prosecutors in Ankara to file a lawsuit against the magazine’s editor-in-chief Etienne Gernelle and Romain Gubert, the author of the article. The complaint accused them of insulting the president, and the charge is a crime punishable by law in Turkey.

Other Western media have accused Ankara of carrying out ethnic cleansing in the Syrian border region.

French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the most prominent Western opponents of the Turkish operation in Syria, described the military action as a “crazy operation”, expressing frustration at the inability of NATO to check member Turkey.

Since Wednesday, October 9, Turkey has been conducting a military offensive in northern Syria against Kurdish autonomous areas, where there are fears that this could lead to the return of ISIS, as the SDF is holding thousands of its fighters and family members in prisons and camps in the area.