Turkey Announced the Offensive Against the Syrian City of Afrin

They say Turkish forces fired around 70 shells at Kurdish villages.

It considers them a terrorist group.

As Turkey slips farther away from the west and Erdoğan continues to aggregate power and transform the country into an Islamic state, the USA and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation have been powerless to stop him.

The US has opposed Turkish attacks on the Syrian Kurds for years, and in recent days suggested Turkey should hold off on such operations, instead focusing on ISIS.

Earlier, the U.S., Russian Federation and Iranian mission heads in Ankara were also informed about the Turkish military operation, which is dubbed as “Operation Olive Branch“.

Mekdad, the Syrian deputy foreign minister, told reporters in Damascus that Syria’s air force has been restored to its former might after seven years of civil war and was “ready to destroy Turkish air targets in the skies of the Syrian Arab Republic”.

The spokesman conceded that the FSA “respects Turkey as a partner in our fight, but we have our independence, we have our rights”.

Turkish forces began an assault Friday on the northern enclave of Afrin, controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a USA -backed, mostly Kurdish alliance that includes Arabs and ethnic minorities.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an angry man at the best of times, but on Monday he outdid himself: “This is what we have to say to all our allies: don’t get in between us and terrorist organizations, or we will not be responsible for the unwanted consequences”.

But the recent escalation coincides with USA announcements that it is creating a new 30,000-strong Kurdish-led border force to secure the frontiers of Kurdish-controlled areas, including with Turkey and Iraq, to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State militants.

The YPG also denied Ankara’s accusations that its forces have launched artillery across the border, despite having previously released videos contradicting that claim.

What is happening in Afrin?

The operation would be carried out “with respect for Syria’s territorial integrity”, it added. But Turkey also fears any gains in strength for the Syrian Kurds, whose territory runs along some of Turkey’s south border.

Demonstrations in support of the YPG were held in Afrin on Thursday.

“YPG attacks inside of Turkey could force the U.S.to reconsider the nature and extent of US support to YPG forces in Syria”, Cafarella elaborated.

Additionally, Hevi Mustafa, a top member of the civilian administration that governs Afrin, said several wounded people had arrived at hospitals.

President Erdogan has vowed to wipe out a corridor, first Afrin and then the nearby town of Manbij, from where the YPG has failed to withdraw.

“The U.S. must eliminate the confusion and change its stance in favor of peace and improving relations with Turkey”, he said during an address to police chiefs. “We call on the opposing parties to show restraint”. An estimated half a million people have been killed in the Syrian war.

The foreign ministry of Russian Federation, whose opinion is seen as crucial in determining how far the operation goes, said it had received the news of the campaign with concern and urged restraint.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet responded to a request for comment from CNN.

Ankara has long fought Kurdish unrest in southeastern Turkey.

However, Turkish military operation is very risky. Ankara and Washington both opposed Al Assad, but Moscow has also grown closer to Erdogan.

In a sign of mounting tensions in the region, two other U.S. defense officials told CNN that Turkish backed rebels near Manbij, Syria are regularly firing on United States military patrols and that USA forces occasionally return fire.