April 2017 Turkish airstrikes in Syria and Iraq

Turkey will not take a step back from its operation into Afrin and has had an agreement with Russia regarding its military offensive against the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the northwestern Syrian city, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 22. 

Turkish military operation into the northern Afrin province of Syria has physically begun on th ground, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 20, speaking in central Anatolian province of Kütahya.

Turkey’s currency has weakened both against the U.S. dollar and the euro, as geopolitical risks escalate over a possible military operation by Turkey in the Afrin region of northern Syria.

A possible military operation by Turkey in the Afrin region of northern Syria will be conducted together with Syrian opposition groups, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 16.     

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the Turkish army’s deployment near Afrin province in northern Syria, controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), is part of defense measures against threats to Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 30, while Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy for the coalition to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), was holding discussions in Ankara following his visit to northern Syria.