Turkey warns Syrian army against helping Kurds in Afrin

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A crisis is deepening in northern Syria, a month after Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch” to drive out Kurdish forces from the Afrin enclave.

Syrian state media on Monday reported that the Syrian army will enter Afrin to support the Kurds, but Ankara was swift to warn Damascus against throwing its weight behind those whom the Turkish government brand as terrorists.

Meanwhile, Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) spokesman Nouri Mahmoud denied reaching any such agreement with the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Turkish military vehicles are transported to border units as part of the "Operation Olive Branch" launched in Syria's Afrin, February 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

State-run SANA news agency on Monday said that Syrian troops would enter Afrin "within hours", but by sunset there were no signs of a deployment there.

Reports about the Syrian army backing the Kurdish fighters ruffled Ankara's feathers.

"If (the Syrian army) comes in to defend the YPG, then nothing and nobody can stop Turkish soldiers," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Jordan.

Turkey would have no issue with Syrian troops entering Afrin if they did so to "cleanse" it of the Kurdish fighters, he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later said in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Damascus would face consequences if it struck a deal with the YPG and said Turkey's military campaign would continue.

Syrian Kurds mourn fighters from the YPG militia and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) who were killed in clashes in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria on the border with Turkey, February 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

The YPG is regarded by Ankara as the Syrian affiliate of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara has listed as a terrorist organization. However, the United States has supported the YPG in its fight against ISIL militants in Syria.

Turkey launched its military operation last month in Syria's Afrin to oust the YPG militia and vowed to expand its operation to Manbij where US troops are deployed along with YPG members to fight ISIL.

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