Old Photos Shared in Relation to the Recent Attack on Northern Iraq
The Claim
The images, shared in relation to the ongoing Turkish Military action in Iraq, show the Turkish military workers’ humanitarian side.
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Emerging story
Social media users have recently circulated pictures in relation to the recent Turkish military operations in Iraq. The users shared the images with the caption: “PKK bombed civilians in Iraq. Iran and the PKK blamed this on Turkey with fake news. The Turkish army never targets civilians.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar has investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. Turkey has denied allegations that it attacked civilians after news outlets reported on the Turkish military targeting a tourist area. However, the circulating photos are old and unrelated to what is currently happening in Iraq.
Old Photos Shared as Turkish Military Action in Iraq
Using TinEye, our team discovered that the pictures the users circulated with the claim that Turkey never attacked civilians are old and unrelated to the current events. The first photo, taken in 2016, shows a Turkish soldier smiling at a Syrian child.
The second photo, published in the Daily Mail on August 20, 2021, shows a Turkish soldier carrying a child at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Similarly, the third picture predates the ongoing military action in Iraq. Several Turkish media outlets shared the same photo in 2020 after the Ministry of National Defense made an emotional video on the occasion of the International Day of Children Victims of War.
Among the recently circulated pictures, is an image of a woman dressed in black with a child and a soldier carrying a bottle of water. The photograph was captured by the photojournalist Fırat Yurdakul. It is old and was posted on Anadolu Agency in March 2016, attached to an article entitled: “March 8 and Women Victims of War.”
The image was posted with the caption: “Millions of Syrians left their homeland because of the conflicts between the regime forces and the opposition since 2011. Turkey, which has a 911-kilometer border with Syria, has been the first and most welcoming country to Syrians. It made historical and cultural ties in the last five years.”
Users have also shared another image claiming it depicts the humanitarian side of the Turkish soldiers during the ongoing military action in Iraq. However, the picture is old and was uploaded to news outlets in 2018 as the Turkish Armed Forces fought meticulously so that civilians, especially children, could be safe during internal security and cross-border operations.
Another image shared with the same claims was found among pictures that appeared in a 48-minute video uploaded to YouTube on September 23, 2014. The video was entitled: “Mehmetçik, the soldier of the most merciful army in the world.”
The last picture is also old and was posted by online Turkish news outlets in May 2018, among other images depicting the Turkish Armed Forces delivering food aid to nearly 500 families in some Turkish regions.
Iraq Accuses Turkey of Killing Civilians
A diplomatic crisis erupted between Iraq and Turkey after artillery shells targeted a park in Zakho, a city in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Iraqi news outlets reported that nine civilians were killed, and at least 23 people were wounded. According to the BBC, most of the victims are Iraqi tourists and children.
The Iraqi officials blamed the Turkish forces. Meanwhile, Turkey denied carrying out attacks targeting civilians and suggested that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK forces targeted the park.
Associated Press reported that Iraq has filed “a complaint to the U.N. Security Council, requesting an urgent session to discuss a deadly artillery attack this week that Baghdad blames on Turkey.”
Read More:
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