Turkish troops have cleared “terrorists” from a strategic village in the Kurdish-held enclave in north-western Syria, Turkey’s prime minister has said.

Turkish troops have cleared “terrorists” from a strategic village in the Kurdish-held enclave in north-western Syria, Turkey’s prime minister has said.

Mr Yildirim said Turkish soldiers captured Rajo in Afrin district and pushed the “terrorists” back from the border with Turkey, tightening its grip on Kurdish militia in the sixth week of its offensive on the area.

Mr Yildirim told a rally the Kurdish Afrin district was surrounded by the military, special police and paramilitary forces, as well as allied Syrian opposition fighters. “We have cleared all areas near our borders of terror nests,” he said.

A fighter of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army secures Mersewa village in the greater Afrin district, Syria (Emrah Gurel/AP) The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict, said fierce clashes were still ongoing in Rajo, in north-west Afrin. If confirmed, Rajo would be the largest centre in Afrin to be captured since the Turkish offensive began on January 20.

Turkish borders run along Afrin’s western and northern borders. A Syrian territory controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters lies to the east. Syrian government forces control territory in the south. Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been attacking Afrin from the north, west and east, and have formed a crescent around the district.

Turkey said it wants to oust the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, from Afrin, considering the group a terrorist organisation, an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. Turkish soldiers hold a position on a hill in the greater Afrin district (Emrah Gurel/AP) Turkey said 41 of its soldiers have been killed since the operation began.

The US has no troops in Afrin, but said it fears the Turkish offensive could distract from the fight against IS in the east.

Complicating matters, fighters loyal to Syria’s government entered Afrin late last month to support the Syrian Kurdish militia, raising the spectre of a possible confrontation between Turkish and pro-government Syrian troops. The government continued its offensive against eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held region near the Syrian capital Damascus, despite a Russian-ordered five-hour humanitarian pause. A UN 30-day ceasefire has failed to take hold.

A Turkey-backed opposition fighter of the Free Syrian Army in the greater Afrin district (Emrah Gurel/AP) Syrian activists and rescuers said at least six civilians were killed in the ongoing bombing on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Syrian State TV said on Saturday that two children escaped from the region under gunfire from the rebels, who control eastern Ghouta.

Syrian government and Russian officials accuse the rebels of firing at a corridor set up for evacuation, preventing civilians from leaving. The corridor, manned by Russia military police and Syrian troops, has been set to open for five hours daily since Tuesday. An elderly Pakistani couple managed to leave after negotiations. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian Civil Defence said six civilians were killed on Saturday in government bombings in eastern Ghouta. </s> "Syria: Ghouta, Idlib Afrin — France has requested an urgent meeting of UN Security Council," Le Drian said on Twitter after talks with his Turkish counterpart.

The minister further continued, saying that the parties should stop the fire immediately and provide a complete humanitarian access.

Earlier today, NTV broadcaster reported that Turkish tanks entered Syrian Afrin, backing the offensive of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) armed opposition group on the positions of Kurdish militia.

The announcement came a day after the Turkish General Staff had declared the launch of the operation dubbed Olive Branch against the Kurdish forces in Afrin. The operation started at 14:00 GMT and over 70 Turkish warplanes conducted airstrikes in seven districts of Afrin, where 108 targets out of 113 were destroyed. The military operation has already been condemned by Damascus with the Syrian Foreign Ministry calling the act a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

A spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin, however, denied Turkish claims that its forces had entered the district. </s> Turkey’s prime minister Binali Yildirim said “As of this moment our brave Armed Forces have started the aerial offensive to eliminate the PYD and PKK and [Islamic State] elements in Afrin,” adding that eight F-16 aircraft were involved in the aerial sortie.

State media reported that Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters have also entered the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria.

RT reports: Turkey’s General Staff has officially declared the start of the operation, dubbing it ‘Operation Olive Branch,’ according to a statement cited by Turkish newspaper Sol.

AP journalists at the Turkish border reported seeing at least five jets heading toward Afrin. Also sighted was a convoy of buses, believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters, and trucks mounted with machine guns.

A senior Kurdish official said that Turkish warplanes had struck residential parts of Afrin, forcing people to retreat inside their homes and in shelters, Reuters reported. Several wounded people arrived at a local hospital, according to Hevi Mustafa, a top member of the civilian administration that governs the area.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has discussed the military offensive with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Turkish officials said. Ministry officials earlier said Tillerson had requested a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart. Ankara’s Chief of Military Staff, Hulusi Akar, has also spoken with his US and Russian counterparts, according to Turkish media reports.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have meanwhile accused Turkey of using cross-border shelling as a false pretext to launch an offensive into Syria, according to Reuters. The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), said it will have no choice but to defend itself if attacked. The alliance controls areas in Syria’s east and north.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow is closely following the situation, citing concerns over recent developments in the area. The ministry’s statement called on all sides in the conflict to exercise restraint.

It comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier on Saturday that Ankara had “de facto” begun its operation against Kurdish forces in Afrin. He said the operation would be “followed by Manbij,” referring to the Kurdish-controlled town in northern Syria. </s> ISTANBUL — Turkey’s president said Sunday that allied Syrian forces have taken “total” control of the town centre of Afrin, the target of a nearly two-month offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia, which said the fighting was still underway.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish flag and the flag of the Syrian opposition fighters has been raised in the town, previously controlled by the Kurdish militia known as the People’s Defence Units, or YPG.

“Many of the terrorists had turned tail and run away already,” Erdogan said.

Turkey’s military tweeted that its forces are now conducting combing operations to search for land mines and explosives. The army tweeted a video showing a soldier holding a Turkish flag and a man waving the Syrian opposition flag on the balcony of the district parliament building with a tank stationed on the street.

A Kurdish official, Hadia Yousef, told The Associated Press the YPG fighters have not fled the town, but have evacuated the remaining civilians because of “massacres.” She said clashes in the town were still underway.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Turkey-backed forces have taken control of half the town, with intense fighting still underway.

Turkey views the Kurdish forces in the Afrin enclave along the border as terrorists because of their links to the Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey.

It launched an offensive against the town and surrounding areas on Jan. 20, slowly squeezing the militia and hundreds of thousands of civilians into the town centre.

The Observatory says nearly 200,000 people have fled the Afrin region in recent days amid heavy airstrikes, entering Syrian government-held territory nearby.

The YPG was a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State group, and seized large areas across northern and eastern Syria with the help of coalition airstrikes.

But Erdogan has repeatedly said that NATO ally Turkey will not allow a “terror corridor” along its border. At least 46 Turkish soldiers have been killed since the offensive began.

The Kurdish militia and the Observatory said Turkish jets struck Afrin’s main hospital on Friday, killing over a dozen people. The Turkish military denied the allegations. </s> BEIRUT/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey warned on Monday it would confront Syrian government forces if they entered Syria’s northwestern Afrin region to help the Kurdish YPG militia repel a Turkish offensive.

Turkey began its Afrin operation with allied Syrian rebels last month against the YPG, which Ankara sees as a threat along its border with links to the Kurdish PKK insurgency at home.

Ankara’s onslaught has further scrambled the matrix of rivalries and alliances in northern Syria among Kurdish forces, the Syrian government, insurgent factions, Turkey, Iran, the United States and Russia.

Monday’s comments by Turkey’s president and two of his ministers came after a senior Kurdish official said on Sunday that a deal had been struck for the Syrian army to go into Afrin soon to help fight the assault.

But YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud denied on Monday reaching such an agreement with the Damascus government.

Syrian state media said in the morning that pro-government militia would enter Afrin “within hours” but by sunset there were no signs of a deployment there. Turkey also said the report that Syrian troops were entering the region was “not true”.

“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.

President Tayyip Erdogan later said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Damascus would face consequences if it struck a deal with the YPG and said the Afrin operation would continue, CNN Turk reported. [L8N1Q93JQ]

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military or from Moscow.

Erdogan also spoke to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about developments in Syria’s Idlib and Afrin, a Turkish source said.

Badran Jia Kurd, an adviser to the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in north Syria, said on Sunday there was a military understanding between Damascus and Kurdish forces for the Syrian army to enter Afrin. But he added that it faced opposition which could derail it.

Another Syrian Kurdish political official said on Monday that pressure from Russia, the key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had prevented the deal from going ahead so far.

YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud said there was only ”a call from us for the Syrian army to come in and protect the borders.

“This is its duty,” he said. “So far, the Syrian army has not fulfilled its duty towards Afrin.”

Deals between the Syrian government and the Kurdish forces, which each hold more territory than any other side in Syria, could prove pivotal for the future course of the war.

Since the onset of Syria’s conflict in 2011, the YPG and its allies have set up three autonomous cantons in the north, including Afrin bordering Turkey. Their sphere of influence expanded as they seized territory from Islamic State militants with U.S. help, though Washington opposes their political ambitions as does the Syrian government.

While Assad’s government and the YPG espouse different visions for Syria’s future and their forces have clashed at times, they have mostly avoided direct conflict.

Jia Kurd told Reuters on Sunday that Syrian army troops would deploy along some border positions under the deal between the Kurdish fighters and Damascus. He said the deal was only on military aspects and any political or other agreements would have to wait for further talks.

“Popular forces will arrive in Afrin in the next few hours to support the steadfastness of its people in confronting the aggression,” Syrian state news agency SANA said earlier.

Ankara regards the YPG as indistinguishable from the PKK, though the groups say they are independent from each other. Turkey, the United States, and Europe classify the PKK, a leftist Kurdish movement that has mounted a three-decade insurgency inside Turkey, as a terrorist organisation.

The Afrin offensive has strained the complex ties between the warring sides in northern Syria and their external supporters.

Turkey’s NATO ally the United States has armed the YPG as part of an alliance it backs in Syria against Islamic State, which has infuriated Ankara.

But while Washington has a military presence in the much larger swathes of Syria that the YPG and its allies control further east, it has not given support to the YPG in Afrin.

This month, the United States said it had killed hundreds of pro-government troops in strikes in eastern Syria because they were attacking the militia alliance that the YPG spearheads. </s> BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):

Turkey's president says Turkish artillery fire has pushed back a convoy of pro-Syrian government forces from an enclave in northern Syria.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Tuesday that the Shite fighters who entered the enclave of Afrin in a convoy of a dozen vehicles were acting alone. He warned that Turkey would not allow "such (a) wrongful step" in the future, adding that those who do "would pay a high price."

Speaking during a joint news conference with his Macedonian counterpart that the convoy of a dozen vehicles "were forced to turn back" following the shelling.

"That file has been closed for now," he said.

Turkey's state-run news agency says pro-Syrian government forces have turned back 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Afrin city following shelling by the Turkish military.

Anadolu Agency said the Turkish artillery fired "warning" strikes, forcing the militia group to turn back.

No other details were immediately available.

A group of pro-government Syrian fighters began entering the Afrin region from the nearby government-held village of Nubul. Turkish troops started shelling the area forcing journalists to flee, according to Syrian state TV.

A top Syrian opposition official has accused the government of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in rebel-held suburbs of the capital Damascus calling on the international community to react.

Nasr al-Hariri, who heads the committee that represents the Syrian opposition in U.N. talks with the government in Geneva, told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday that the opposition is committed to a political solution but "we are studying all the options." He was asked whether they will withdraw from the talks

Al-Hariri said the government bombardment of Damascus' eastern suburbs, also known as eastern Ghouta, are a "flagrant defiance of international law." He added that the U.N. Security Council should take "decisive decisions."

Earlier on Tuesday, al-Hariri told the Pan Arab Al-Arabiya TV that the opposition is ready for negotiation for the withdrawal of al-Qaida-linked fighters from Ghouta if this would end the violence.

Al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee has presence in eastern Ghouta although it is not the most powerful group in the area.

A spokesman for the main Syrian Kurdish militia says government forces have started entering the northern enclave of Afrin to deploy along the border with Turkey and help defend it against advancing Turkish troops.

Tuesday's comments by Nouri Mahmoud, spokesman for the People's Protection Units, or YPG, came nearly an hour after pro-government Syrian fighters began entering the Afrin region from the nearby government-held village of Nubul.

Shortly after the fighters entered, Turkish troops started shelling the area forcing journalists to flee according to Syrian state TV.

He said the YPG had invited the government to enter the region to participate in defending Afrin and the border against Turkey's "unjust invasion."

Mahmoud added in a statement that the Syrian government sent some fighters starting Tuesday.

The U.N. envoy for Syria is decrying a recent upsurge in violence, expressing concerns that the eastern Ghouta region near Damascus could fall victim to widespread bloodshed like that in northern Aleppo more than a year ago.

Staffan de Mistura says world powers are not doing enough to halt the fighting over the rebel-held enclave east of the capital that is besieged by government forces.

He faulted President Bashar Assad's government, which is backed by Russia and Iran, for "obviously unleashing a lot of fire" recently.

De Mistura told reporters in his office in Geneva that "we are looking in front of us at an increasing tragedy" and decried "increasing incremental militarization of the conflict in eastern Ghouta."

"Bottom line: if we have learned something from Aleppo, (it's) time to actually avoid all this."

He pointed to "a lot of shelling on Damascus as well" recently, before adding, in remarks directed at the government and its allies: "The only difference is that one group has got better weapons. That's the only difference."

Syrian state TV is reporting that Turkish troops are shelling the entrance of the northern Kurdish enclave of Afrin shortly after scores of pro-government fighters entered the area.

The TV showed shells falling in an area where journalists gathered Tuesday forcing some of them to flee the area.

Minutes before the shelling, about 20 vehicles with heavy machine guns mounted on them were seen entering the area as part of an agreement between the government and the main Kurdish militia in Syria known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG.

Turkey has threatened Syrian troops not to help YPG fighters, warning that it will fight its backers.

Ankara considers the YPG a "terrorist group" linked to the Kurdish insurgency within Turkey's borders. On Jan. 20, it launched a major air and ground offensive, pounding the enclave with airstrikes and artillery on a daily basis.

Pro-government Syrian fighters have started entering the northern Kurdish enclave of Afrin where Turkish troops have been on the offensive for a month.

Syrian state TV showed about 20 vehicles with heavy machine guns mounted on them entering Afrin from the nearby village of Nubul.

Scores of gunmen were on the vehicles waving Syrian flags and chanting pro-government slogans.

There was no immediate comment about the deployment from Kurdish officials.

Tuesday's deployment came a day after Turkey warned the Syrian government against entering the Kurdish-controlled enclave where a major Turkish military offensive is underway, saying it would hit back at the troops if their goal is to protect the Kurdish fighters.

The deployment came hours after Turkish media reported that Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition forces have linked a swathe of land in the Afrin enclave to the Turkish-held Syrian city of Azaz.

Turkish media reports say Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition forces have linked a swathe of land in the Afrin enclave to the Turkish-held Syrian city of Azaz.

The private Dogan news agency said the advancing forces, which are battling a Syrian Kurdish militia, took control of a key road linking the two areas in northern Syria, along the border. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely monitors the conflict, confirmed the report.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said nine villages were captured on Tuesday, including four in the north of Afrin.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that the Turkish forces would soon besiege Afrin's city center.

Turkey launched its offensive into Afrin on Jan. 20 to clear it of Syrian Kurdish fighters. It views the Kurdish fighters as terrorists because of their links to outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey.

Russia's Foreign Ministry says several dozen fighters hailing from Russia and former Soviet republics have been injured in Syria and flown to Russia for treatment.

The ministry's statement does not say where in Syria the fighters were injured but that it happened in "recent fighting." It comes amid mounting indications that Russian private contractors in Syria were part of pro-government forces that suffered heavy losses in a U.S. counterattack in the Deir el-Zour province on Feb. 7.

The Associated Press last week interviewed the mother of one of the killed mercenaries as well as families of the active Russian contractors.

Following its acknowledgement last week that five Russians had been killed by the U.S. strike in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry insisted Tuesday that the men were not on military duty and that the Russian military did not provide them any assistance.

A top Syrian opposition figure says government forces along with Iran and Russia are committing a new "Holocaust" in rebel-held suburbs of the capital Damascus.

Mohammed Alloush of the Army of Islam told The Associated Press Tuesday that the United Nations is also to blame "because of its bankruptcy and lies about protecting security and peace in the world."

Alloush's comments came after opposition activists and paramedics said that more than 100 people have been killed since Monday in the worst daily death toll in the eastern suburbs, also known as eastern Ghouta, in three years.

Alloush, whose militant group is the strongest in eastern Ghouta, described the government and its backers Russia and Iran as a "Satanic alliance" that is "unprecedented since World War II."

Alloush added that "a new Holocaust is being committed by the dirtiest regime on earth."

Turkey's president says Turkish troops involved in an offensive to drive out Syrian Kurdish militiamen from a Syrian enclave will soon begin a siege of the city of Afrin.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his ruling party's legislators on Tuesday that the month-long offensive into the northwester enclave of Afrin has so far been progressing slowly.

He says Turkey is not there "to burn and destroy" the enclave but to ensure it becomes a "safe and livable place."

Erdogan said that, however, "in the coming days, the siege of Afrin city center will commence at a more rapid pace."

Turkey launched its offensive to clear Afrin of the Syrian Kurdish militia it considers a "terrorist" organization and an extension to its own outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting within Turkey.

Turkish troops have so far seized border regions encircling Afrin, including strategic hills.

The U.N. children's agency has issued a statement of protest against the killing of scores of people, including children, in the Syrian government bombardment of rebel-held suburbs of Damascus.

UNICEF's one-page statement released on Tuesday carries a headline, saying: "Do those inflicting the suffering still have words to justify their barbaric acts?"

The headline is followed by blank space underneath.

UNICEF said it issued this blank statement because "we no longer have the words to describe children's suffering and our outrage."

Syrian opposition activists and paramedics said airstrikes and shelling of Damascus' eastern suburbs known as eastern Ghouta killed at least 98 people, including 20 children, on Monday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the daily death toll is the highest in the area since 2015.

Residents of the Syrian capital and the state-run news agency say shells from besieged rebel-held suburbs are raining down on Damascus.

SANA says Tuesday's shelling killed one person and wounded at least six people. It comes amid a major government offensive on the region known as eastern Ghouta.

The Syrian Civil Defense affiliated with the opposition said the shelling and airstrikes killed 98 on Monday, adding that some people were still under the rubble.

A resident of Damascus hiding in the corridor of an office building described the shelling as one of the worst in months. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for security concerns.

The shelling targeted the districts of Old Damascus, Bab Touma, Abu Rummaneh and others.

A Syrian monitoring group and paramedics say government shelling and airstrikes on rebel-held suburbs of the capital, Damascus, killed at least 98 people on Monday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it was the deadliest day in three years in the area known as eastern Ghouta.

The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets, said the shelling and airstrikes killed 98 and that some people are still under the rubble.

The Observatory says 20 children and 15 women were among those killed on Monday.

The targeted suburbs have been subjected to weeks-long bombardment that has killed and wounded hundreds of people.

Opposition activists say government forces have brought in reinforcements in preparation for a wider offensive on the area — the last main rebel stronghold near Damascus.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Erdogan said Turkish soldiers along with rebel factions of the Free Syrian Army took complete control of Afrin town center at 8.30 am local time.

He said mopping operations are underway and the Turkish flag has been raised in the town that sits less than 50 kilometers from the Turkish border.

"Most of the terrorists fled already," Erdogan said. "Our special forces and Free Syrian Army are clearing the remaining few terrorists and the mines that they might have left. In the center of Afrin the symbols of peace and security are flying, not the rags of a terror organization. Now the Turkish flag is flying there. The FSA flag is flying there."

Turkey launched its military offensive against US-backed Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin on January 20, supported by FSA rebel factions.

Ankara says the YPG is an extension of the PKK, a marxist Kurdish militant group that has been waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s. Erdogan was speaking in Canakkale at an event to mark the anniversary of battle of the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli, one of the only major victories of Ottoman forces during the First World War, and an important moment in the history of Turkish nationalism. More than 150,000 people have been displaced in the last few days from Afrin town, a senior Kurdish official and a monitoring </s> According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, the Turkish army and an opposition group, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), have taken control of the town of Rajo. The forces have also reportedly captured the villages of Ramadiye and Hamilek to the south-west of Afrin during the offensive.

The Turkish TV channel Haberturk reported earlier that the second stage of Ankara's Olive Branch military push was launched on Friday. The Turkish forces aim to clear the large settlements in the Afrin area from mostly-Kurdish forces they deem to be terrorists, according to the reports.

READ MORE: Pentagon Sees No Indication of Turkey's Plans to Expand Olive Branch to Manbij

The towns of Rajo and Jinders are considered to be of strategic importance for the success of the Turkish operation, as they are located on the major roads leading to Afrin. After gaining control of the city, the Turkish military and their allies are planning to encircle Afrin.

The offensive comes after the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2401 calling on all parties to the conflict to stop fighting and adhere to a long-term humanitarian pause across the country in order to ensure the safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.

The Turkish armed forces have been carrying out their offensive in Afrin since January 20, 2018, in order to "clear" the area near the Syrian border of the Kurdish fighters they consider terrorists. Ankara considers the PYD, a Kurdish political party in northern Syria, and the related YPG militia, to be associated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara.

Damascus has strongly condemned the operation conducted by Turkey as an assault on the nation's sovereignty. Russia, in turn, has urged all parties to exercise restraint and called for respect for Syria's territorial integrity. </s> Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Sunday that Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel fighter allies have seized control of the town center of Afrin from Kurdish YPG fighters.

Erdogan said Turkish soldiers along with rebel factions of the Free Syrian Army took complete control of Afrin town center at 8.30 am local time.

He said mopping operations are underway and the Turkish flag has been raised in the town that sits less than 50 kilometers from the Turkish border.

“Most of the terrorists fled already,” Erdogan said. “Our special forces and Free Syrian Army are clearing the remaining few terrorists and the mines that they might have left. In the center of Afrin the symbols of peace and security are flying, not the rags of a terror organization. Now the Turkish flag is flying there. The FSA flag is flying there.”

Turkey launched its military offensive against US-backed Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin on January 20, supported by FSA rebel factions.

Ankara says the YPG is an extension of the PKK, a marxist Kurdish militant group that has been waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s.

Erdogan was speaking in Canakkale at an event to mark the anniversary of battle of the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli, one of the only major victories of Ottoman forces during the First World War, and an important moment in the history of Turkish nationalism.

More than 150,000 people have been displaced in the last few days from Afrin town, a senior Kurdish official and a monitoring group said Saturday.
Turkish President Erdoğan announces that Turkish Army ground troops have entered the district of Afrin in Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım says the goal is to establish a 30-km safe zone.