Turkish forces step up border town blitz
Johnson urges talks, end to operation
ISTANBUL: Turkish forces targeted areas around two Syrian border towns with fresh shelling yesterday, pressing on with their offensive against Kurdish militia for a fifth day in the face of fierce international opposition.
Turkey is facing threats of possible sanctions from the United States unless it calls off the incursion, while the Arab League has denounced the operation and Nato allies Germany and France said they were halting weapons exports to Turkey.
Ankara launched the cross-border assault against the YPG militia after US President Donald Trump withdrew some US troops from the border region.
Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist group aligned with Kurdish militants in Turkey.
Gunfire resounded early yesterday around Ras al Ain, one of two Syrian towns which are the focus of the attack, while Turkish artillery continued to target the area, a Reuters reporter across the border in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar said.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels advanced into Ras al Ain on Saturday.
Turkey has said it took control of the town centre, while Kurdish-led forces denied that and said they were counter-attacking.
At Tell Abiad, the operation’s other main target some 120km to the west, Turkish howitzers shelled outlying districts, a witness in the neighbouring Turkish town of Akcakale said.
The assault has raised international alarm over its mass displacement of civilians and the possibility of Islamic State (IS) militants escaping from Kurdish prisons.
In the latest criticism, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed “grave concern” about the offensive to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, saying it may worsen the humanitarian situation and undermine progress against the IS.
“He urged the president to end the operation and enter into dialogue,” a spokesman for Mr Johnson said after the telephone call between the two leaders on Saturday evening.
Turkey’s Defence Ministry said 480 YPG militants had been “neutralised” since the operation began, a term that commonly means killed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organisation which reports on the war, said 74 Kurdish-led fighters, 49 Turkey-backed Syrian rebels and 30 civilians have been killed in the fighting.
In Turkey, 18 civilians have been killed in the cross-border bombardment, Turkish media and officials say.
President Trump on Saturday defended his decision to withdraw troops from the Syrian border region, telling conservative Christian activists that the United States should prioritise protecting its own borders.
“Let them have their borders, but I don’t think our soldiers should be there for the next 50 years guarding a border between Turkey and Syria when we can’t guard our own borders at home,” Mr Trump said in a speech in Washington.
“Don’t forget: they are fighting for their land. They haven’t help us fight for our land,” Mr Trump said. “They’re fighting for their land and that’s good, but we’ve helped them.”
The Kurdish-led administration in Syria’s northeast has said 200,000 people had been uprooted so far by the fighting, while the UN World Food Programme said more than 100,000 had left Ras al Ain and Tell Abiad.
Turkey’s stated objective is to set up a “safe zone” inside Syria to resettle many of the 3.6 million Syrian war refugees it has been hosting.
Mr Erdogan has threatened to send them to Europe if the EU does not back his assault.
He has also dismissed the growing condemnation of the operation, saying that Turkey “will not stop it, no matter what anyone says”.