Turkish military intervention in Syria

The United States is in talks with Turkey about Manbij, Syria, but it is not the right time to discuss it publicly, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said on Feb. 2. 

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has stepped up public diplomacy efforts to gather support for Turkey’s ongoing military operation into the Syrian district of Afrin, where it is fighting against the People’s Protection Units (YPG), after feeling the need to provide reasons for its “Operation Olive Branch” to the international community as well as its own public. 

The Kurdish-led People's Protection Units (YPG) launched a big counter-assault in the northwestern countryside of the Afrin region against the Turkish backed rebels in the Bulbul District on Thursday, but where is the YPG getting it's weapons from? Sputnik spoke to Turkish military analysts to find the answer.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has criticized the West for not highlighting the civilian casualties in Turkey stemming from attacks by the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

The People’s Protection Units (YPG) has killed five Turkish civilians in 82 cross-border rocket attacks since the beginning of “Operation Olive Branch” in northwestern Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Feb. 2.

It appears that NATO is sliding into the most serious crisis since its foundation as Turkish troops have engaged in a war against Kurdish rebels in northern Syria where the United States maintains a significant military presence.

This means that the risk of a military engagement between two member-states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is significant.

Turkey on Thursday dismissed cautionary remarks from France about its military operation in northern Syria as "insults", signaling continued strain between Ankara and its NATO allies over the incursion, Reuters reports.

The Turkish Armed Forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) cleared People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants from Mount Ain al-Batman in the northeast of the Afrin district in northern Syria on Jan. 31, the 12th day of “Operation Olive Branch.”

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – the U.S. backed militant group in Syria dominated by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) – has started moving their forces to the country’s north in reaction to Turkey’s “Operation Olive Branch” in Afrin, the Pentagon has said.

Turkey’s military operation in the Afrin district of Syria could finish in 15 days at most if Turkey wasn’t concerned about the civilians there, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli has said in the Turkish Parliament.