19 March 2018•Update: 19 March 2018
ANKARA
Turkey’s presidential spokesman described the clearing of YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists from the town center of Afrin, Syria as a key stage of the counter-terrorist campaign, but with more work ahead.
“An important stage of the operation has been completed, there is still work to do,” Ibrahim Kalin told British Sky News late Sunday.
The Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army fighters took control of the Afrin town center early on Sunday as part of Operation Olive Branch, which was launched on Jan. 20 to clear the area of YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists.
“Afrin is a big area with several thousand people living there,” Kalin said. “We are providing aid and we want to make sure that, especially inside the cities and in the houses, there are no mines, no traps.”
“So, there will be work to do in days to come but, at the same time, we will continue to provide humanitarian aid and also work with the locals to make sure they govern themselves – that their needs are provided,” he added.
‘Afrin operation different than Mosul, Raqqah’
According to Kalin, the Afrin operation is different from previous battles in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqah, Syria.
“When we began the Olive Branch operation, a number of allies and political commentators raised questions about possible civilian casualties, and we have been extremely careful with that,” he said.
“We have avoided civilian casualties and, if you look at the pictures, the city has not been destroyed,” he added.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.
The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming any civilians.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the YPG/PKK since July 2012, when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without a fight.
Reporting by Mehmet Tosun:Writing by Handan Kazanci
