Turkey launches airstrikes in Syria
Offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters fuels tension between Russia, United States
ISTANBUL— Turkish warplanes carried out an airstrike against Kurdish fighters in Syria on Saturday, opening a long-anticipated offensive on Afrin, an enclave for the Kurdish militias backed by the United States.
The offensive has sparked fears of a new round of hostilities between the various world powers with interests in northern Syria, including Russia and the United States.
Turkish leaders have framed the offensive as part of its wider battle against the Kurdish separatists in southwest Turkey, known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. But Turkey also fears any gains in strength for the Syrian Kurds, whose territory runs along some of Turkey’s southern border.
Syria had warned that it was prepared to fire on Turkish warplanes in the event of an attack on Afrin, about 19 kilometres from Turkey’s southern border.
In the past few days, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has urged Turkey not to pursue the attack, arguing it amounted to a distraction from the ongoing battle against Daesh militants, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in their remaining strongholds in Syria.
Washington is both allied with NATO partner Turkey and the Syrian Kurds as a proxy force against Daesh. There are roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in northern Syria.
The airstrikes on Saturday followed days of intense Turkish artillery fire on Kurdish positions, according to activists in Afrin.
Turkey’s state news agency also reported that Syrian rebels allied with Turkey were advancing on Afrin, but those reports could not be immediately confirmed. There were no reports of Turkish troop movements.
Turkey’s government had named the offensive “Operation Olive Branch,” according to a military statement, which asserted that the Turkish military action was aimed both at Kurdish militias and Daesh.
“We are taking these steps to ensure our own national security, as well as of our13 million Syrian brothers and sisters, who are displaced,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, according to the semiofficial Anadolu agency.