Afrinpost-Sky News
The U.S. State Department released an official report on terrorism during 2019, in which it spoke at length about Turkey and its role in exporting terrorists.
“Turkey is a source and transit country for terrorist fighters seeking to join ISIS and other terrorist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq,” said the report, published on the State Department’s official website.
“Prosecutors in Turkey have used a broad definition of terrorism and the threat to national security to bring criminal charges against and prosecute a wide range of individuals, including journalists, opposition politicians, activists, and others who criticize the government,” it added.
The report indicated that the Turkish government continued to “arrest Turkish citizens and foreigners residing in Turkey – including American citizens and local employees of the United States Mission to Turkey – on terrorism-related charges, often without sufficient evidence and with minimal due process.”
The report also highlighted that the government of Turkey fired military, security and civilian personnel from public office in 2019 ″.
“Since the failed coup attempt in 2016, the government has dismissed more than 130,000 civil servants and members of the armed forces from public office and imprisoned more than 80,000 citizens, and closed more than 1,500 NGOs.”
The report also stated that Turkey “continued the arrests of suspected aid or sympathizers of the PKK, including some politicians elected in 2019.”
