Turkey slams EU for Afrin remarks including double standards against Turkey

Presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın criticized European High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini's for her remarks on Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria, saying it exposed the double standards against Turkey's counterterrorism efforts.

Commenting on the Turkish offensive the EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini earlier said, "I'm extremely worried and will discuss this among other things with our Turkish interlocutors."Referring to recent statements from the EU, Kalın wrote on his official Twitter account on Monday, saying, "Turkey has been decisively fighting against all terror groups including Daesh, [the] PKK, and [the Gülenist Terror Group] FETÖ. Some people are expressing concern and using an anti-war rhetoric when it comes to the PKK/PYD-YPG [Democratic Union Party-People's Protection Units] is a double standard and hypocrisy. These will never deter Turkey."

Mogherini had said she was worried for two main reasons; one of them is the humanitarian consequences. "We need to make sure that humanitarian access is guaranteed and that civilian population and people are not suffering from military activities on the ground," she said.

She added that the second issue was that the offensive "can undermine seriously the resumption of talks in Geneva, which is what we believe could really bring sustainable peace and security for Syria."

Mogherini said she hoped to set up a meeting with Turkey's EU Minister Ömer Çelik when he visits Brussels "in the coming days."