ANKARA
Terror supporters have tried to undermine Turkey's Operation Peace Spring on social media through a disinformation campaign.
They continue using photographs of a different scene and time to undermine Turkey's peace efforts in northern Syria.
A case in point is a photo taken by Ibrahim Abu Lays, an Anadolu Agency photographer, of an airstrike in Aleppo in November 2016. The terror supporters shared it on social media falsely stating that the image is from Turkey's ongoing operation.
Also, a photo taken in Syria's eastern Ghouta in September 2014 of injured children was attributed to the Turkish operation.
Similarly, an August 2012 photo of a mother carrying her dead child and a September 2016 photo of bodies of four children in Aleppo following Syrian regime airstrikes were falsely linked to Turkey's ongoing action against terrorists.
The pictures were shared with #KurdsBetrayedByTrump.
Another terror supporter account on social media shared a video -- showing death bodies of a woman and two children -- which was actually shot in Aug. 2016 in Syria.
Also a video of an explosion at a church in Egypt’s north Alexandria province shot in April 2017 was attributed to the Turkish operation.
Turkey on Wednesday launched Operation Peace Spring east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to secure its borders by eliminating terrorist elements and to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees and Syria’s territorial integrity.
Ankara wants to eliminate terrorist elements of the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the PYD/YPG, from the region.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
*Writing by Gozde Bayar and Burak Bir.
