Turkish forces have
arrested more than a dozen people over their vehement opposition to the
Ankara government’s military operation in Syria’s northwestern region of
Afrin against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militant
group.
Judicial sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 13
people were detained in the country’ northeastern province of Kars on
Saturday for taking part in an online campaign against the offensive.
The sources added that the suspects had also insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The development came on the same day that Prime Minister Binali
Yildirim said Turkish military forces and allied militants from the
so-called Free Syrian Army had cleared Turkey's southeastern border
areas of YPG militants.
“Afrin is surrounded. We have cleared all nearby border areas of
terror nests,” Yildirim said in the central Turkish city of Konya.
He said that Turkish soldiers had been conducting “successful” ground and air operations in Afrin.
Meanwhile, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Saturday
that a total of 2,434 YPG militants had been "neutralized" since the
launch of “Operation Olive Branch” in Syria's Afrin on January 20. Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) military police
members demonstrate with their flags in the Kurdish town of al-Muabbadah
in the northeastern part of Hasakah province on February 24, 2018,
denouncing the Turkish military operation against YPG forces in the
northwestern Kurdish enclave of Afrin. (Photo by AFP)
Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) militant group that has been fighting for an autonomous
region inside Turkey since 1984.
Erdogan has repeatedly said that Afrin should be cleared of
“terrorists,” and demanded the deployment of Turkish troops there during
a speech back in November 2016.
This is while US officials regard the YPG as the most effective
fighting force against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in northern
Syria, and have substantially increased their weaponry and technology
support to the group.
The controversy over a possible Syria border force first started on
January 14 when a report emerged on Reuters saying that the military
coalition led by the United States in Syria was planning to set up a
large border force of up to 30,000 personnel with the aid of its militia
allies.
The Syrian government has already condemned the Turkish offensive
against Afrin, rejecting Ankara’s claim about having informed Damascus
of the operation.
Damascus "strongly condemns the brutal Turkish aggression on Afrin,
which is an inseparable part of Syrian territory," Syria's official news
agency SANA cited a Syrian Foreign Ministry source as saying on January
20.
“Syria completely denies claims by the Turkish regime that it was informed of this military operation,” the source added.
