An elderly man walks by the wreckage of the Afrika newspaper office after it was attacked from supporters of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish occupied northern part of the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. (Petros Karadjias/Associated Press)NICOSIA, Cyprus — The editor-in-chief of a left-wing Turkish Cypriot newspaper alleged that Turkey’s president incited supporters to attack the publication’s office Monday because the paper had criticized Ankara’s military offensive in Syria. Editor Sener Levent said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged supporters to “answer” Afrika for suggesting that Turkey’s offensive into a Syrian enclave controlled by a U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia was a bid to occupy that country’s territory. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence. According to the Turkish presidency’s website, Erdogan earlier called Afrika “a cheap and nasty newspaper” that ran an “impertinent” headline and invited Turkish Cypriots to “give the necessary response to this.”In a statement, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said he disapproved of Afrika’s “occupation” reference.

Source: Washington Post January 22, 2018 11:17 UTC