Is Turkey Helping Terrorists With Syria Operation?
ISTANBUL (Dispatches) -- Turkish ground forces pushed into northern Syria's Afrin province on Sunday, Ankara said after launching artillery and airstrikes on U.S.-backed Kurdish militants it aims to sweep from its border.
The YPG militants, supported by the United States but seen as a terrorist organization by Turkey, said it had repulsed the Turkish forces and their allies after fierce clashes.
One Syrian refugee was killed and 32 people were wounded on Sunday in rocket fire on a Turkish town close to the Syrian border, a local official said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had declared on Sunday that his forces would crush the YPG militants.
Speaking to a congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the northwestern city of Bursa, Erdogan also accused some of Turkey's allies of providing 2,000 plane shipments and 5,000 truckloads of weapons to the YPG.
Erdogan's comments came after Turkey's prime minister, Binali Yildirim, confirmed on Sunday that Turkish troops were continuing their offensive inside Syria.
"The operation will be conducted at speed. This operation will also target any support provided to the terrorists in Afrin," said Yildirim.
Yildirim told media representatives in Istanbul that there were 8,000 to 10,000 militants in Afrin and that Turkey was resolute in its determination to cleanse all militant presence from the area.
He also said the operation planned to create a safe zone that would extend 30km into Syria's Afrin region.
The fighting marks the second day of Turkey's new front in the nearly seven-year-old Syria war.
Under what the Turkish government has dubbed as "Operation Olive Branch," Turkish airstrikes on Saturday pounded YPG positions in Afrin province.
The military said it had hit 153 targets so far, including shelters and hideouts used by Kurdish militants. The YPG has said Turkey's strikes killed six civilians and three of its fighters and wounded 13 civilians.
The YPG accused Turkey of striking civilian districts and a camp for the displaced in Afrin.
On land, the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army militants were also helping the operation in Afrin, Turkish officials said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad condemned the operation, stating that the offensive is part of Ankara's support for Takfiri terrorist groups operating inside the Arab country.
"The brutal Turkish aggression on the Syrian town of Afrin cannot be separated from the Turkish regime's policy from the first day of Syria's crisis, which was essentially built on supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations, whatever their names,” Assad said in statements carried by Syria's official news agency SANA.
Iran also called for a quick end to the Turkish incursion into Afrin province, saying it may help "terrorist” groups, state news agency IRNA reported.
"Iran hopes that this operation will be ended immediately to prevent a deepening of the crisis in the border regions of Turkey and Syria,” it quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying. "A continued crisis in Afrin may boost ...terrorist groups in northern Syria.”
France strongly urged Turkey to end its offensive in Syria and called for a UN Security Council meeting to be held on the "humanitarian risks” of the new military intervention in the war-torn country.
"This fighting … must stop” French Defense Minister Florence Parly said.
Turkey’s intense bombardment continued on the region's Balia and Topal villages, the YPG said.
"Our people are holding on to their land and do not accept surrender ... we repeat our determination to protect our people in Afrin against the attacks," the YPG said overnight.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported that four rockets fired from Syria hit the border town of Kilis overnight, damaging houses. Turkish security forces retaliated, it said.
The operation pits Turkey against Kurdish militants allied to the United States at a time when ties between Ankara and Washington appear close to a breaking point.
Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has carried out a three-decade insurgency in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
The YPG militants, supported by the United States but seen as a terrorist organization by Turkey, said it had repulsed the Turkish forces and their allies after fierce clashes.
One Syrian refugee was killed and 32 people were wounded on Sunday in rocket fire on a Turkish town close to the Syrian border, a local official said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had declared on Sunday that his forces would crush the YPG militants.
Speaking to a congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the northwestern city of Bursa, Erdogan also accused some of Turkey's allies of providing 2,000 plane shipments and 5,000 truckloads of weapons to the YPG.
Erdogan's comments came after Turkey's prime minister, Binali Yildirim, confirmed on Sunday that Turkish troops were continuing their offensive inside Syria.
"The operation will be conducted at speed. This operation will also target any support provided to the terrorists in Afrin," said Yildirim.
Yildirim told media representatives in Istanbul that there were 8,000 to 10,000 militants in Afrin and that Turkey was resolute in its determination to cleanse all militant presence from the area.
He also said the operation planned to create a safe zone that would extend 30km into Syria's Afrin region.
The fighting marks the second day of Turkey's new front in the nearly seven-year-old Syria war.
Under what the Turkish government has dubbed as "Operation Olive Branch," Turkish airstrikes on Saturday pounded YPG positions in Afrin province.
The military said it had hit 153 targets so far, including shelters and hideouts used by Kurdish militants. The YPG has said Turkey's strikes killed six civilians and three of its fighters and wounded 13 civilians.
The YPG accused Turkey of striking civilian districts and a camp for the displaced in Afrin.
On land, the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army militants were also helping the operation in Afrin, Turkish officials said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad condemned the operation, stating that the offensive is part of Ankara's support for Takfiri terrorist groups operating inside the Arab country.
"The brutal Turkish aggression on the Syrian town of Afrin cannot be separated from the Turkish regime's policy from the first day of Syria's crisis, which was essentially built on supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations, whatever their names,” Assad said in statements carried by Syria's official news agency SANA.
Iran also called for a quick end to the Turkish incursion into Afrin province, saying it may help "terrorist” groups, state news agency IRNA reported.
"Iran hopes that this operation will be ended immediately to prevent a deepening of the crisis in the border regions of Turkey and Syria,” it quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying. "A continued crisis in Afrin may boost ...terrorist groups in northern Syria.”
France strongly urged Turkey to end its offensive in Syria and called for a UN Security Council meeting to be held on the "humanitarian risks” of the new military intervention in the war-torn country.
"This fighting … must stop” French Defense Minister Florence Parly said.
Turkey’s intense bombardment continued on the region's Balia and Topal villages, the YPG said.
"Our people are holding on to their land and do not accept surrender ... we repeat our determination to protect our people in Afrin against the attacks," the YPG said overnight.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported that four rockets fired from Syria hit the border town of Kilis overnight, damaging houses. Turkish security forces retaliated, it said.
The operation pits Turkey against Kurdish militants allied to the United States at a time when ties between Ankara and Washington appear close to a breaking point.
Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has carried out a three-decade insurgency in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.