Turkey Never Used Banned Weapons In Syria During Operation Peace Spring - Syria, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar

Turkey has never used banned weapons during Operation Peace Spring against Kurdish militia and the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) in northern Syria, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st November, 2019) Turkey has never used banned weapons during Operation Peace Spring against Kurdish militia and the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) in northern Syria, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.

In October, a representative of the Syrian Democratic Council, which is the political wing of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said in an address to the US Congress that Turkey had used phosphorus during its offensive.

"Turkey didn't use and will not use any ammunition or chemical weapons prohibited by international law and agreements," Akar told the parliament, as quoted by Turkey's state-owed Anadolu news agency.

Ankara launched its offensive in northeastern Syria on October 9 to create a safe zone free of Kurdish militia that it viewed as terrorists. In the first days, it took control of the border towns of Tal Abiad and Ras al-Ain.

On October 23, Turkey and Russia struck a memorandum that prevented the former from further expanding its zone of operation in the region. Russian military police and Syrian border guards, in turn, committed themselves to facilitating the withdrawal of Kurdish militia from an 18-mile border zone outside the area of Operation Peace Spring.