RTSun, 21 Jan 2018 08:23 UTC
© Osman Orsal / ReutersA Turkish military tanks arrives near the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey January 17, 2018
Following an intense shelling and bombing attack on Kurdish positions in Afrin Saturday, Turkey's PM announced the ground phase of operation 'Olive Branch' will kick into gear Sunday.From tomorrow [Sunday], depending on developments, our ground units will perform the necessary activities [as part of the Operation Olive Branch]," Binali Yildirim told reporters. He claimed the first phase of the aerial campaign destroyed "nearly all" of the targets.
Several military trucks carrying tanks and other armored vehicles
were already sighted at the border post of Oncupinar,
ready to cross into the Turkish-controlled Syrian town of Azaz, footage provided by the Dogan news outlet
showed.
"The goal of the Republic of Turkey is not, and may never be, to bring prejudice to the territorial integrity of Syria," Yildirim
said, according to Anadolu News.
"The rescue of our Turkmen brothers from oppression and persecution of terrorist organizations is one of the important goals of this operation."Following cross-border artillery shelling Friday and Saturday, Turkey deployed thousands of soldiers of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to support their offensive to eliminate the Kurdish- aligned PKK, PYD, YPG militias and Islamic State fighters.
Some 72 Turkish jets struck 108 out of the 113 intended targets in Afrin Saturday. At least seven civilians, including a child, and three Kurdish fighters were killed in the city center, the YPG command said, adding that another 13 civilians were wounded. Turkey's General Staff, meanwhile, vowed to 'spare' Afrin civilians as it hunts down "terrorist" elements on its border.
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Update: Turkish tanks and military personnel
have entered Syrian territory amid preparations for the ground operation in Syrian northern district of Afrin, the
Yeni Safak newspaper reported on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, the Turkish tanks and troops started to enter Syrian territory from the Oncupinar border gate at 19:00 GMT and the passage continued until the early hours of Sunday morning.
Later on, NTV broadcaster said, citing a military source, that Turkish tanks entered Afrin, supporting the oppositional Free Syrian Army (FSA) in their operation against Kurdish militia.
According to the broadcaster, the Turkish military is not facing serious resistance from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which is abandoning positions at Syrian-Turkish borders and retreating deeper into the Syrian territory.
However, a spokesman for the YPG in Afrin denied Turkish claims that its forces had entered the district.
Update: Kurdish YPG blames Russia for Turkish attack on Afrin
On January 20, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) announced in an official statement that seven civilians were killed and twelve others were injured in Turkish strikes on the area of Afrin in northern Aleppo. The YPG also revealed that Turkish airstrikes killed three of its fighters.
In its statement, the YPG surprisingly accused Russia of giving Turkey a "permission" to conduct its military operation in Afrin and said that Russia will be responsible for any massacre in Afrin. On the other hand, the US-backed Kurdish force ignored the silence of its main ally, the US and didn't mention it in its statement.
"We know that, without the permission of global forces and mainly Russia, whose troops located in Afrin, Turkey cannot attack civilians using Afrin air space. Therefore, we hold Russia as responsible as Turkey and stress that Russia is the crime partner of Turkey in massacring the civilians in the region," the YPG said in the statement.
Update: Damascus "
resolutely condemns" Turkey's invasion of Afrin, and denies that Ankara informed them of the operation beforehand. Assad said today that the military operation is just part of Ankara's strategy to
support terrorists in Syria. Yildirim said
108 of 113 designated targets were destroyed in the Turks' airstrikes prior to today's land incursion. Kurds in Afrin say 10 residents were
injured in the airstrikes. Another report says at least 9 were killed (3 fighters, 6 civilians).
Video footage shows some lightly wounded people in hospital.
The Turks say they will pay "every kind of attention and sensitivity" to
avoid harming civilians, and will
leave once their military objectives are complete:
"The operation is not against our Turkmen, Kurdish or Arab brothers living there [in Afrin], but against the terrorist groups. It has been launched with a respect for Syria's territorial integrity, sovereignty and political unity, and will be carried out taking these principles into account. After the operation reaches the assigned tasks, Turkey will leave Afrin," Bozdag said, as quoted by Ihlas News Agency.
Meanwhile, Syria fired three rockets early on Sunday targeting the Turkish border province of Kilis and lightly injuring one person, media reported citing local governor. According to Anadolu news agency, the rockets hit several locations in the provincial capital of Kilis and damaged some buildings in the area.
Rocket fire from Afrin into Turkey reportedly killed one and injured 32 (more social media reporting
here).
Yildirim also
said that everyone (including Americans) who supports the Afrin Kurds will be targets of the Turkish Air Force, and that the Turks will create a 30-km buffer zone along the border. The first of four phases of the operation is aimed at forming a secure zone of the borders between Azaz and Afrin. He added:
"We are communicating with the Syrian government through Moscow's mediation. The Free Syrian Army together with our units has entered Afrin. Russia has no objections regarding the operation. Iran's concerns are now being settled," Yildirim was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
Both
Iran and Egypt called on Turkey to end the operation immediately "to prevent a deepening of the crisis".
Erdogan vowed to
complete the operation "in a very short time". The Turks report having hit 153 targets, including positions of ISIS, PKK, KCK, PYD, and YPG (all considered terrorist groups by Ankara). Erdogan says they will force the terrorists out of Afrin and pursue them. He
added:
"Do not assault our frontiers, do not provoke us. Otherwise, we'll not have enough patience. I said this to the respected [former US President Barack] Obama. It is a pity that I did not receive an answer. We said: "We'll come unexpectedly at night." We waited, waited, and then struck. Those who say that the US is behind them will not cope with the Turkish people. This is our people's struggle," Erdogan stated, speaking at a women's congress in the province of Bursa.
He also
blamed the U.S., indirectly:
In a speech to his ruling AK Party Erdogan said that 'some allies' of Turkey had provided the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia with 2,000 planeloads and 5,000 truckloads of weapons.
"Now, apart from 5,000 trucks, there are weapons and ammunition from around 2,000 planes." the Turkish leader said. He also accused Ankara's allies of dishonesty when they say that they do not provide weapons for "terrorists," referring to Kurdish-linked YPG forces.
The president also vowed to hand over Afrin to its "real owners," explaining that he aims to return 3.5 million refugees back to Syria from Turkey as soon as possible.
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The Turks say they will pay "every kind of attention and sensitivity" to avoid harming civilians, and will leave once their military objectives are complete: Rocket fire from Afrin into Turkey reportedly killed one and injured 32 (more social media reporting here).
Yildirim also said that everyone (including Americans) who supports the Afrin Kurds will be targets of the Turkish Air Force, and that the Turks will create a 30-km buffer zone along the border. The first of four phases of the operation is aimed at forming a secure zone of the borders between Azaz and Afrin. He added: Both Iran and Egypt called on Turkey to end the operation immediately "to prevent a deepening of the crisis".
Erdogan vowed to complete the operation "in a very short time". The Turks report having hit 153 targets, including positions of ISIS, PKK, KCK, PYD, and YPG (all considered terrorist groups by Ankara). Erdogan says they will force the terrorists out of Afrin and pursue them. He added: He also blamed the U.S., indirectly: