A mortar shell exploded near Ozer, hitting him in a leg and arm. The correspondent was delivered to a state hospital in the southern province of Hatay and is reportedly in stable condition.
On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized the Western countries over lack of their response to the alleged killing of Turkish civilians by shelling of the Kurdish forces from the Syrian border district of Afrin.
"Why are certain [Western] countries trying to ignore the terrorists' actions? Why do not you protect the rights of those Turkish civilians killed in shelling? Do [the Turkish civilians] have to be terrorists for you to protect their rights?" Cavusoglu told reporters.
On January 20, the Turkish Armed Forces launched a joint operation with the Free Syrian Army opposition forces against the Kurdish forces in Afrin. The district is controlled by the US-backed the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) militias, which Ankara considers affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey and several other countries.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said that the Kurdish forces have fired over 80 rockets on the Turkish border areas from northern Syria since the start of Ankara's operation.
The SDF has accused Ankara of staging attack against civilians living in the Turkish border areas and trying to frame the SDF to justify its own attacks on the SDF-held Afrin.
Turkey has repeatedly condemned the United States for providing various kinds of support, including arms deliveries, to the Syrian Kurds.
However, Damascus has also firmly condemned the operation as an assault on Syria's sovereignty. Moscow called on the parties involved for restraint and respect for the Syrian territorial integrity.
