Turkey’s interior minister says Friday that 121 people have been detained for social media posts critical of Turkey’s military offensive into Kurdish-held northeastern Syria.
Suleyman Soylu said nearly 500 people were investigated for posts characterizing Turkey as an “invading” force and “insulting” the operation-dubbed Peace Spring- which is in its third day.
Turkey is fighting the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which it considers to be an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within the country.
Turkey’s police force has previously said the investigations were under the charge of “terror propaganda.” Similar measures were taken during Turkey’s 2018 cross-border operation in Afrin in northwestern Syria, which was previously controlled by the YPG.
Turkey’s anti-terror laws are broad. Pro-Kurdish lawmakers and journalists have been convicted and imprisoned for terror propaganda.
