Turkish forces push into Syria

Ground troops move against YPG militia on second day of fighting

AZAZ, Syria - Turkish ground forces pushed into northern Syria's Afrin province on Sunday, the army said, after Turkey launched artillery and air strikes on a US-backed Kurdish militia it aims to sweep from its border.

The Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia, supported by the United States but seen as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, said it had repulsed the Turkish forces and their allies after fierce clashes.

It marked the second day of fighting after Ankara opened a new front in the nearly seven-year-old Syrian war.

Under what the Turkish government has called "Operation Olive Branch", Turkish air strikes on Saturday pounded YPG positions in Afrin.

But the campaign risks further increasing tensions with Turkey's NATO ally the US - which has supported the YPG in the fight against Islamic State jihadists - and also needs at least the tacit support of Russia to succeed.

Turkish artillery pounded YPG targets around Afrin on Sunday after the first strikes the previous day saw 72 Turkish aircraft hit a total of 108 targets inside Syria, according to the army.

Meanwhile, pro-Turkey Syrian rebels who Ankara calls the Free Syrian Army were engaged in a "comprehensive" ground operation on Afrin against the YPG, the state-run Andadolu news agency said.

On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Turkish reporters in a briefing in Istanbul that ground troops had crossed into the YPG-controlled region in Syria from the Turkish village of Gulbaba, the Dogan news agency reported.

The army emphasized that IS was also being targeted in the operation although it no longer has any major presence in the Afrin area.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly vowed that Turkey would root out the "nests of terror" in Syria of the YPG, which Ankara accuses of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK.

The PKK, which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades, is regarded as a terror group not just by Ankara and but also its Western allies.

On Saturday, a Pentagon official said: "We encourage all parties to avoid escalation and to focus on the most important task of defeating ISIS(Islamic State)."

Troops withdrawing

But even more crucial is the attitude of Russia, which has a military presence in the area and is also working with Turkey on a drive to end the civil war.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was concerned and urged Turkey to show restraint. But the Russian Defense Ministry said its troops were withdrawing from the Afrin area to prevent any "provocation" and ensure the security of its troops.

Timur Akhmetov, Ankara-based researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council, told AFP that Russia appeared to have given the "green light" to the operation but made clear it should not lead to destabilization elsewhere.

"I don't think Russia will agree to let Turkey occupy the whole Afrin region and insists on keeping the Syrian government in charge," he added.

Afp - Reuters

(China Daily 01/22/2018 page11)