Turkish army says it has ‘full control’ of Afrin
A Turkish army source on Saturday said Ankara’s military and its Syrian rebel allies have gained “full control” of Syrian Kurdistan’s Afrin region.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A Turkish army source on Saturday said Ankara’s military and its Syrian rebel allies have gained “full control” of Syrian Kurdistan’s Afrin region.
Reuters quoted a military source as saying that “the last remaining villages had been seized and control established overnight.”
“Control has been completely achieved in the Afrin region and search operations are continuing so that local people can return safely to their houses,” the Turkish army source added.
Reuters also said the Turkish Red Crescent was distributing food and aid to the people of Afrin who had not joined the over 170,000 to escape the war-ridden region, while Turkish soldiers in military trucks “kept security.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), meanwhile, has urged for greater access to the civilian population of Afrin, declaring that the Turkish Red Crescent lacked credibility among the Kurds after Turkey’s takeover of the region.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag previously said the Turkish army would not remain in Afrin following its takeover last week.
“We are not permanent there [in Afrin], and we are certainly not invaders,” Bozdag said. “Our goal is to hand the region back to its real owners.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had uttered similar remarks during the military operation, claiming the area belonged to Arabs and his army would give it “back to its rightful owners.”
Turkish and Syrian rebel forces overtook the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin on March 18 where they declared full control following a nearly two-month long offensive against the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara, who launched its military incursion on Jan. 20, claimed the operation was meant to secure its borders of YPG forces which it argues are an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), thus “terrorists.”
The intense offensive in Afrin has led to the deaths of over 250 civilians, including women and children, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.