No. Turbulence is a violent movement of a fluid, such as air or water. Winglets don’t create violent movements of air.
Winglets reduce induced drag. Winglets increase the effective area of a wing.
Winglets provide benefits while the aircraft is still on the runway during the production of lift. That is why your statement about hurting/helping is incorrect.
Do you have any idea what my screen name, CFIIIMEIATP737 means?
If you would like to learn more about how winglets work by reducing wingtip turbulence, check out this article from Popular Science I found.
“They’re called winglets, AND THEIR PURPOSE IS TO REDUCE TURBULENCE AT THE TIPS OF AN AIRPLANE’S WINGS. The air pressure on the bottom of a wing is greater than the pressure on top, so when air flowing across the two surfaces meets at the wing tip, it forms a vortex-a miniature tornado. The vortices created by a large airplane are strong enough to flip a smaller plane that is following too closely.”
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2002-02/fyi-what-are-winglets