A/HRC/39/65 Annex III Information note submitted by Turkey on Operation Olive Branch The Commission made to member states requests for information regarding its investigations during the period under review. In that regard, the Commission received the following response from the Government of the Republic of Turkey regarding its operations in Afrin (Aleppo Governorate).1 That response appears verbatim below. 1. As the conflict in Syria continues unabated in its eighth year, the spill-over effects of war have exceeded the borders of Syria and its immediate vicinity. The terrorist organizations that found fertile ground due to conflict conditions have been a serious threat for the regional and international security, as well as the territorial integrity of Syria. 2. Turkey’s national security has been under the direct threat of Syria-based terrorist organisations, among which DEASH and PKK/KCK’s Syria affiliate PYD/YPG come at the forefront. 3. In countering the threat of terrorism, our response has always been proportionate, measured and responsible in line with the right of self-defense as outlined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. As such, Turkey has successfully concluded the Operation Euphrates Shield (OES) in 2017, through which 2015 km² of land was cleared from DEASH and a safe haven free of terror could be established, enabling displaced Syrians to return. More than 182.000 Syrians have already returned from Turkey. 4. However, the terrorism threat from Syria targeting our borders was far from over. The threat posed by the PYD/YPG terrorist elements deployed in the bordering Afrin region, to the lives and property of the brotherly people of the region as well as our citizens living close to the border area was heightened due to the increase in the number of harassment fires and attacks. 5. From the beginning of 2017 to January 2018, Hatay and Kilis provinces of Turkey as well as the Turkish military posts and bases in the region and the military observation posts in Idlib were targeted from Afrin with almost 700 harassment fires and attacks, as of the beginning of 2018. 6. There was also the risk of DEASH elements, which had come from other parts of Syria and nested in the Afrin region, to attack our country and our border regions, and to transit to Europe through our country. 7. Against this backdrop, the Turkish Armed Forces launched “Operation Olive Branch” (OOB) on 20 January 2018 against these terrorist elements. The objective of this operation was defined as to ensure our border security, neutralize terrorists in Afrin and thus save the brotherly Syrians from the oppression and cruelty of these terrorists. 8. The operation has been carried out on the basis of the international law, in accordance with our right to self-defense as outlined in Article 51 of the UN Charter and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions 1373(2001), 1624(2005), 2170(2014) and 2178(2014) as well as in full respect to Syria’s territorial integrity. 9. During the planning and execution phases of the operation, only the mentioned terrorist elements and their hideouts, shelters, emplacements, weapons, vehicles and equipment were targeted. Civilian structures, buildings in which civilians were detected or religious, cultural and historic sites were never targeted. Globally accepted targeting methods were applied during the conduct of the operation. Targets were determined 1 The Commission considered the above information provided by the Republic of Turkey directly relevant to its report. Such requests for information may be appended to the Commission’s public reports at its discretion and with the consent of the concerned state. 22