Amnesty: Turkey Using Syria Campaign to Cow Opposition

Amnesty International's latest report on Turkey, "We Can't Complain", accuses the Turkish government of using its ongoing military operation in Northern Syria against Kurdish forces, Operation Peace Spring, to silence critics at home.

The report says politicians, journalists, social media users and protesters who have objected to the government official line have been accused of "terrorism" and subjected to criminal investigation, arbitrary detentions and travel bans. If prosecuted and found guilty, they face lengthy prison sentences.

"Language around the military incursion was heavily policed, and hundreds of people who expressed their dissenting opinions about Turkey's military operation were rounded up and are facing investigations under anti-terrorism laws," Amnesty's Europe Director, Marie Struthers, wrote in the report.

Following the operation, the government of President Recep Tayyip Eerdogan warned the media that it would show zero tolerance towards "any broadcasting that may negatively impact the morale and motivation of soldiers or may mislead citizens through incomplete, falsified or partial information that serves the aims of terror".

As the report details, the authorities have raided the homes of journalists for criticising Turkey's offensive. In the first week of the operation, 839 social media accounts were placed under investigation for "sharing criminal content". Official figures say 186 people were taken into police custody and 24 remanded in pre-trial detention.

Amnesty says in the first week of the operation, 27 people in Mardin province and 54 people in Sanliurfa province were detained on terrorism-related charges.

"Since the start of the military offensive, Turkey's already entrenched atmosphere of...