- Title: Protesters in Beirut demonstrate against Turkish offensive into Syria
- Date: 13th October 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) 48-YEAR-OLD PROTESTER, ISMAEL ALI YOUNES, FROM HASAKA IN SYRIA, SAYING: "In the name of the Kurdish people in Syria, we refuse the Turkish offensive on the people in northeast Syria, we condemn this aggression and this is a big conspiracy on the Kurdish people altogether. We are here today to condemn this Turkish aggression on the Kurdish people in all its components." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS WAVING KURDISH FLAG MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN AND ELDERLY JOINING PROTEST GIRL HOLDING SIGN READING (Arabic): 'Stop bombing my city... don't kill our children' VARIOUS OF CHILDREN HOLDING SIGN READING (English): 'Save Rojava'
- Embargoed: 27th October 2019 13:20
- Keywords: Turkish military operation in Syria Tel Abyad Kurds living in Lebanon protest Kurds Syria Beirut Turkey
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA003B0XHXDZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Around 200 Kurds living in Lebanon gathered in central Beirut on Sunday (October 13) to protest against Turkey's military action in northeast Syria.
Children also joined the protest with one girl holding a banner reading 'Stop bombing my city... don't kill our children'.
Ankara launched the cross-border assault against the YPG militia after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew some U.S. troops from the border region. Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist group aligned with Kurdish militants in Turkey.
Turkey's stated objective is to set up a "safe zone" inside Syria to resettle many of the 3.6 million Syrian war refugees it has been hosting. Erdogan has threatened to send them to Europe if the EU does not back his assault.
But the Turkish incursion has raised international alarm over large-scale displacements of civilians and, amidst the upheaval, the possibility of Islamic State militants escaping from prisons run by the Kurdish-led authorities.
(Production: Ahmad El Kerdi, Alaa Kanaan, Yara Abi Nader) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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