Turkey has vowed retaliatory military action against the People’s Protection Units (YPG) after eight Turkish troops were killed in an ambush in northern Syria’s Afrin district late on March 1, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voicing determination to continue “Operation Olive Branch.”
“We are carrying out our struggle there determinedly and we will continue to do so. We will make those terrorists pay in kind,” Erdoğan told reporters, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Eight Turkish troops were killed in an ambush by YPG militants and Erdoğan said he was informed by Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar immediately after the incident took place. Two members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were also killed and some are wounded, while anti-aircraft weapons and the YPG personnel using them were neutralized as a result of heavy strikes, he added.
On a question over reports that Moscow is unhappy about Turkey’s operations into Afrin and has periodically closed air space to Turkish jets, Erdoğan denied such claims.
“We have no trouble with Russia on Afrin. The process for the establishment of observation spots in Idlib is going on and we have set eight spots so far. We will hold a three-way summit soon in Istanbul as a continuation of the Sochi [summit]. We will have a chance to elaborate on all these issues there,” he said.
Turkey, Russia and Iran, as guarantor countries of the Astana Agreement aiming to enhance and sustain a cease fire between the Syrian regime and the opposition, are due to meet in Istanbul in the coming weeks.
