ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — International condemnation of Tuesday’s deadly bombing in Afrin has received backlash from Turkey, who accused European institutions of enabling terrorist acts in northern Syria.
A fuel tanker laced with explosives detonated in Afrin’s city center on Tuesday evening, killing at least 40 people and injuring more than 47 others.
Fahrettin Altun, the head of Turkey’s communications directorate, slammed the European External Action Service (EEAS) for not accusing the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) of the attack, Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday.
"Despite all our warnings so far, those who supported and armed the YPG/PKK and tried to give it legitimacy and allowed the terrorist organization to operate in their [European] countries are among those primarily responsible for the massacre in Afrin," he said.
"A ceasefire call is never made to terrorist organizations. Terrorism is condemned and terrorism is fought.”
The European External Action Service (EEAS), which manages the EU’s diplomatic relations with other states, released a statement on Wednesday condemning the attack, saying that “those responsible must be held accountable.”
“Such intolerable acts of terrorism can never be justified. Those responsible must be held accountable,” said its spokesperson on Wednesday, adding that the EEAS “reiterates its support for a full nationwide ceasefire.”
Located on the Turkey-Syria border, Afrin was controlled by the YPG, the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after Syrian regime forces withdrew to keep control of other cities in the face of the 2011 Syrian uprising. However, it was invaded by the Turkish army and its Syrian proxies during Operation Olive Branch in March 2018, on the grounds that the YPG threatened Turkish national security.
Several explosions have rocked the city in recent months- with the pro-YPG Afrin Liberation Forces claiming to have killed and injured several Turkish soldiers and Syrian fighters in an attack earlier this month.
Turkish authorities and state media claimed that the Thursday attack was carried out by the YPG.
“The enemy of humanity, PKK/YPG, targeted the innocent civilians in Afrin again,” read a statement from the Turkish defense ministry on the same day.
Turkey regards the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - a Kurdish armed group fighting for Kurdish cultural and political rights in Turkey. The PKK is seen as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
The Turkish-backed Syrian Opposition Coalition condemned the bombing but did not directly reference the YPG. Instead, it renewed its call for “firm international positions against terrorism, its sponsors, and those investing in it.”
“These bombings are clearly aimed at spreading chaos and disrupting options that could pave the way to a real political solution based on international resolutions.”
Kino Gabriel, a spokesperson for the SDF, told Rudaw on late Wednesday that they do not have a presence in Afrin to carry out such attacks, blaming Ankara-backed groups.
“We do not have any direct presence. As per the information we have obtained, there are some groups of Afrin locals who defend their areas but I doubt that they target the civilians,” he said.
“I believe this act [of targeting civilians] is usually affiliated to factions backed by Turkey ,such as the Nusra Front and other groups,” claimed Gabriel, adding that these groups have tried to force the “original residents” of Afrin to flee the city.
The spokesperson blamed Ankara for accusing the SDF “without investigating the incident.”
General Commander of the SDF Mazloum Abdi denied the involvement of his forces in the “terrorist act,” also blaming Turkey and its Syrian proxies.
"What happened in Afrin yesterday was a condemned terrorist act which claimed the lives of innocent people. This criminal act is the outcome of destructive policy pursued by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries in the city of peace and olives," Abdi tweeted on Wednesday.
