Erdogan says Turkish operation in Syria’s Afrin to be supported by rebels

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey’s planned military operation against Kurdish militia forces in Syria’s Afrin region will be supported by Syrian rebel fighters.

In recent days, Erdogan has repeatedly warned of an imminent incursion in Afrin after the U.S.-led coalition said it was working with the mainly Kurdish YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to set up a new 30,000-strong border force.

The plan has infuriated Turkey, which considers the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which has fought an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984. The PKK is considered a terrorist group by the European Union, Turkey and the United States.

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Featured image courtesy of AP