[Al Jazeera] A ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's ongoing offensive in northern Syria.
In his morning show on national Akit TV, Ahmet Keser said he would start in the predominantly secular neighbourhoods of Istanbul and the
"[Claim is that] the army of Republic of Turkey is killing civilians ... Why would it? Why would army of Turkey be there if there were civilians there? Why would the army of Turkey go there to kill civilians?" Keser said.
"If [we] had the intention to kill civilians, we would have started doing it from Cihangir, Nisantasi, Etiler, Right? I mean there are lots of traitors, there is the
Cihangir, Nisantasi and Etiler are among Istanbul's predominantly secular neighbourhoods, where critical sentiment against Turkey's conservative government remains high.
Keser's comments about the
Turkey's army and officials have repeatedly denied that non-combatants were killed in the operation in Afrin, which was launched in January against the Kurdish fighters who Turkey sees as "terrorists".
Baris Yarkadas, an opposition MP, announced on Twitter that he appealed to Turkey's media authority RTUK to punish Keser over the comments.
Eren Erdem, another opposition MP, also announced through a tweet that he has taken the issue to prosecutors, accussing Keser of inciting hatred.
The anchor's comments caused a stir on