Turkey Says Seeks No Clash With U.S., Russia
ANKARA/BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Turkey seeks to avoid any clash with U.S., Russian or Syrian forces but will take any steps needed for its security, a Turkish minister said on Tuesday, the fourth day of its air and ground offensive against Kurdish forces in northwest Syria.
The United States and Russia both have military forces in Syria and have urged Turkey to show restraint in its campaign, named Operation Olive Branch, to crush the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG in the Afrin region on Turkey’s southern border.
The operation has opened a new front in Syria’s multi-sided war and could threaten plans to stabilize and rebuild a large area of Syria.
Ankara has said the operation will be swift, but President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman signaled on Tuesday an open-ended campaign, saying it would end only when some 3.5 million Syrian refugees now living in Turkey could safely return home.
The Kurdish-led authorities of northeast Syria called on Tuesday for mass mobilization in defense of Syria’s Afrin region against a Turkish military offensive.
"The will of the people cannot be vanquished,” the civilian administration said in a statement. "We call on all our noble people to defend Afrin and its pride, and to contribute in all related activities.”
Syrian Kurdish forces and their allies have set up three autonomous cantons in the north, including Afrin in the northwest, since the start of the Syrian conflict. They lie outside the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish forces, backed by Syrian militants, have seized several villages during their operations aimed at ousting Kurdish forces from northern Syria.
According to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency, the villages of Shankal, Qorne, Bali and Adah Manli were captured in the Afrin region along with several other rural regions.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that heavy fighting is underway between Turkish and Kurdish forces in two of the villages.
Meanwhile, one Turkish soldier was killed during the third day of clashes with Kurdish forces.
"One of our heroic soldiers was martyred during clashes" with Kurdish militants from the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia southeast of the Turkish border town of Gulbaba in Kilis, said a statement released by the Turkish military.
Turkish soldiers are seen around the area of Mount Bersaya, north of the Syrian town of Azaz, near the border with Turkey, on January 22, 2018.
The United States and Russia both have military forces in Syria and have urged Turkey to show restraint in its campaign, named Operation Olive Branch, to crush the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG in the Afrin region on Turkey’s southern border.
The operation has opened a new front in Syria’s multi-sided war and could threaten plans to stabilize and rebuild a large area of Syria.
Ankara has said the operation will be swift, but President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman signaled on Tuesday an open-ended campaign, saying it would end only when some 3.5 million Syrian refugees now living in Turkey could safely return home.
The Kurdish-led authorities of northeast Syria called on Tuesday for mass mobilization in defense of Syria’s Afrin region against a Turkish military offensive.
"The will of the people cannot be vanquished,” the civilian administration said in a statement. "We call on all our noble people to defend Afrin and its pride, and to contribute in all related activities.”
Syrian Kurdish forces and their allies have set up three autonomous cantons in the north, including Afrin in the northwest, since the start of the Syrian conflict. They lie outside the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish forces, backed by Syrian militants, have seized several villages during their operations aimed at ousting Kurdish forces from northern Syria.
According to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency, the villages of Shankal, Qorne, Bali and Adah Manli were captured in the Afrin region along with several other rural regions.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that heavy fighting is underway between Turkish and Kurdish forces in two of the villages.
Meanwhile, one Turkish soldier was killed during the third day of clashes with Kurdish forces.
"One of our heroic soldiers was martyred during clashes" with Kurdish militants from the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia southeast of the Turkish border town of Gulbaba in Kilis, said a statement released by the Turkish military.
Turkish soldiers are seen around the area of Mount Bersaya, north of the Syrian town of Azaz, near the border with Turkey, on January 22, 2018.