The official Kurdish administrative bureaucracy that runs Syria's Afrin region has called on the government in Damascus to protect the region and its people from the ongoing assault against it by Turkey-led forces.
Moments ago, the Afrin Self-Administration Office (a regional extension of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party) posted a statement (seen above) officially calling on the Syrian government to fulfill its duty to protect the region - a part of sovereign Syrian soil - from Turkish invasion by deploying its military.
The statement did make the effort to point out that Kurdish forces had protected Afrin from terrorists and invaders for the last six years and that they would continue to do so even once the Syrian Armed Forces stepped in.
A key part of the statement reads:
"We call out for the Syrian government to protect Afrin and Syria's borders by deploying the Syrian Armed Forces to protect Afrin borders."
Comment: A truly facepalm-worthy moment. The Kurds treacherously put their lot in with the U.S., against the Syrian government and against the territorial integrity of the country they're a part of, and
refused the offer of Syrian support prior to the invasion - then when their bluff is called by the Turks, they cry to the Syrian government they just refused and betrayed for help. Seriously, what did they expect?
As for what's been going on in Afrin over the past day, here are the updates. Turkey claims more than
300 Kurdish terrorists have been killed in the 6 days so far of operation "Olive Branch" (naturally Kurdish sources downplayed this, telling Sputnik that no more than "15-20" Kurdish fighters have been killed). Afrin sources say 35 civilians have been killed so far as a result of Turkish shelling. Turkish PM Yildirim says the operation is not just to protect Turkey's borders but also "Europe as a whole".
He called unacceptable the situation where "one NATO member state protects its borders from a terrorist threat, while another NATO member supplies terrorists with weapons," referring to the military assistance provided by the United States to the Kurdish militias in Syria.
Today the Kurds claimed to have captured
16 Turkish soldiers in Afrin.
T urkey denied reports that Germany had ceased providing Turkey with
Leopard tanks in light of the Afrin situation:
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has expressed the country's concern over Ankara's ongoing operation in Afrin and revealed the decision to halt supplying Turkey with German-built Leopard tanks, according to Spiegel.
...
"A commission was scheduled to meet to discuss Leopard tanks, but the meeting was postponed. Meanwhile, no issue of freezing or canceling [the deliveries of Leopard tanks] has been raised," Cavusoglu told reporters.
Earlier, Turkey's foreign minister, in response to the news about freezing of the country's requests on Leopard tanks, called Germany Turkey's ally and said that Ankara expects "support and solidarity" from Berlin.
...
"Concerning the current discussions about arms exports, the Federal Government is clear about the fact that Germany can not send arms in conflict areas and is not going to do so," Gabriel told Spiegel.
Suspending of arms deliveries to Turkey is believed to be a move aimed at easing tension in German society, as images of German Leopard tanks being used by the Turkish army in its offensive in Syria are making the German public feel increasingly uncomfortable.
Sputnik has a revealing
timeline of U.S. support for the Kurds over the past couple years. Of note:
December 2017: There is No Need to Arm the Kurds
Following the defeat of Daesh in October 2017, the Trump administration signaled December 2 that it was going to stop arming the Kurds. "The YPG is armed and as the coalition stops offensive (operations) then obviously you don't need that, you need security, you need police forces, that is local forces, that is people who make certain that ISIS [Daesh] doesn't come back," Mattis said.
January 14, 2018: A New Army is Established
On January 14, Colonel Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, told Agence France Presse (AFP) that the US will establish a new military force in Syria together with the Kurdish-dominated SDF...
January 17, 2018: 'The Entire Situation is Misdescribed'
On January 17, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson backpedaled on the Pentagon's plan: "That entire situation has been misportrayed, misdescribed. Some people misspoke. We are not creating a border security force at all."
January 23: Operation Olive Branch Undermines Anti-Terror Efforts
On January 23, Mattis denounced the Turkish Operation Olive Branch against the Syrian Kurds in Afrin and Manbij: "This clearly disrupts [anti-terror] effort," Mattis said. "The Turkish incursion disrupts that effort. So we urge Turkey to exercise restraint in the military actions and the rhetoric and ensure that its operations are limited in scope and duration."
January 24: The Kurds to Pay the Price if Resist Turkey
On January 24 Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway told the state-owned Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency that the US may cut off military assistance to the Kurdish militia in northern Syria if it continues attacking the Turks: "If they [US-backed units operating under the SDF umbrella] carry out military operations of any kind that are not specifically focused on ISIS (Daesh) they will not have coalition support," Rankine-Galloway stressed. "If we observe scenarios in which that equipment is used for other purposes, we are going to take appropriate action that could include cutting off military assistance to them."
Cavusoglu
answered some questions today on various issues surrounding Afrin:
On Ankara-Damascus Relations
Preservation of the territorial integrity of Syria is the common goal of Ankara and Damascus and the Turkish troops are not going to attack government forces in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. "Once they (the Syrian Armed Forces) shot down our aircraft and we responded. While they do not attack us, we do not need to consider them as our target. Up to this day, we have not taken such actions, Cavusoglu told reporters.
"Damascus knows that the YPG militias (People's Protection Units) want to divide Syria. Whereas Turkey and Damascus as well as the opposition forces all support the territorial integrity of Syria within its current borders. We believe that the Syrian regime will not cooperate with terrorists," he added. ...
On US Arms Supplies to Kurds
Cavusoglu also said that Trump reassured Erdogan in phone conversation that the US stopped arms supplies to Kurdish units in Syria.
The Turkish minister added that Erdogan urged Trump to withdraw "US troops or the YPG terrorists" from Syrian Manbij, as the YPG are attacking the Turkish military and members of the opposition "Free Syrian Army" in Syrian Idlib.
Comment: A truly facepalm-worthy moment. The Kurds treacherously put their lot in with the U.S., against the Syrian government and against the territorial integrity of the country they're a part of, and refused the offer of Syrian support prior to the invasion - then when their bluff is called by the Turks, they cry to the Syrian government they just refused and betrayed for help. Seriously, what did they expect?
As for what's been going on in Afrin over the past day, here are the updates. Turkey claims more than 300 Kurdish terrorists have been killed in the 6 days so far of operation "Olive Branch" (naturally Kurdish sources downplayed this, telling Sputnik that no more than "15-20" Kurdish fighters have been killed). Afrin sources say 35 civilians have been killed so far as a result of Turkish shelling. Turkish PM Yildirim says the operation is not just to protect Turkey's borders but also "Europe as a whole". Today the Kurds claimed to have captured 16 Turkish soldiers in Afrin.
T urkey denied reports that Germany had ceased providing Turkey with Leopard tanks in light of the Afrin situation: Sputnik has a revealing timeline of U.S. support for the Kurds over the past couple years. Of note: Cavusoglu answered some questions today on various issues surrounding Afrin: