Operation Olive Branch, Turkish Invasion of North Syria January 2018

a reply to: 727Sky
You are incorrect. American forces were never in Afrin, so how could they cut and run? They certainly are not leaving Manbij, which is to the East of the FSA/Turkish territory between Afrin and the rest of the Kurdish land where American and other troops were operating in.

Again, we never had any stake or mandate in the Afrin region. They received the weapons that were shipped to the forces we supported along the Euphrates through those forces. Afrin was always under Russian watch. It is the Russians who took off. Those Kurds had a deal to hold the line so Syria could focus on Idlib.

As you can see though, there are now American volunteers heading to fight in Afrin. So no, the US is not cutting and running. Quite the opposite, now we are openly sending clandestine support through trained volunteers .

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

The US isn't going to officially do anything about it, because Turkey is a long time, important ally in the region. Unofficially, there's a lot that will be done. Between clandestine arms shipments to the Kurds, to potentially sending SF teams to the area as "volunteers", to putting behind the scenes diplomatic pressure on.

Personally, I would LOVE to see us tell Turkey to kiss our ass, as they're the definition of a fair weather ally. Sadly, as pointed out, we need access to the Straits too badly to do it.

The Rojava Defense Units have successfully regained custody of several villages that were lost to Turkish aggression, and continue to push with forward momentum to regain other lost territory.

Rojava Defense Units | YPG
‏ @DefenseUnits
13h13 hours ago

What happened in Qestel Cindo in the first attack? #YPG fighter: "Emê li ser rihê wan bisekinin heval!" #Afrin

Rojava Defense Units | YPG
‏ @DefenseUnits
4h4 hours ago

Second visual confirmation that the #SDF's control over Mt. Basrayah (Girê Qestel). #YPG #Afrin

Rojava Defense Units | YPG
‏ @DefenseUnits
2h2 hours ago

Moments from the operation to liberate Hammam village by #YPG-led #SDF. January 23, Hammam village - #Afrin.

.
‏ @op_shield
4h4 hours ago

#Breaking footage
Turkish attack helicopters involved the #OpOliveBranch

Türk saldırı helikopterleri de operasyona dahil oldu. Pkk hedefleri vuruluyor

a reply to: worldstarcountry
I will post what I find however there is little or no doubt in my mind the propaganda is being heavily dished out.

Turkey kills at least 260 Kurdish, Islamic State fighters in Syria offensive - military

ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkey has killed at least 260 Syrian Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in its four-day-old offensive into the Kurdish-dominated Afrin region of northwest Syria, the Turkish military said on Tuesday.



U.S. President Donald Trump plans to raise concerns with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call expected on Wednesday about Ankara's offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG forces in Afrin, a senior U.S. official said.



French President Emmanuel Macron also voiced disquiet, a few hours after Turkey's foreign minister said it wanted to avoid any clash with U.S., Russian or Syrian government forces during its offensive but would do whatever necessary for its security.



The air and ground operation has opened a new front in Syria's multi-sided civil war and could threaten U.S. plans to stabilise and rebuild a large area of northeast Syria - beyond President Bashar al-Assad's control - where Washington helped a force dominated by the YPG to drive out Islamic State militants.

newsletter.thaivisa.com...

youtu.be...

According to this next video Russia offered the Kurds in Afrin an opportunity to join on Assad's side.. They refused so...... Russia left Afrin.. youtu.be...

Another video about what is going on this time by Dr. Paul which I think is actually pretty good. youtu.be...

Reports this morning are saying that Turkish artillery and aircraft are bombing serveral areas around Manbij.
Interactive map syria.liveuamap.com...

a reply to: weirdguy
Plenty of time and warning for US forces to withdraw
still politically damaging for all sides
Hope there is pressure on Turkey to calm down, for the sake of human life.

Thanks guys for contributing. I saw the reports of shelling the villages around Manbij. The US has warned them to proceed with caution. Our guys will not be leaving that place, we are fully armed, invested and not going anywhere.
SDF released their enemy KIA report as well.

Syrian Civil War Map
‏ @CivilWarMap
11h11 hours ago

Casualty numbers according to the SDF:

- Qude Hill and Qude village: 37 gang members killed
- Kurne village: 1 gang member killed
- Şiltalte: 3 gang members killed
- Shaba are: 13 gang members killed
- Hamam village: 150 gang members and turkish soldiers killed

This Turkish news demonstrates a collage of the weapons systems in use including mobile artillery, rocket systems, drones, and radar jammers.

Here are the weapons used in the Operation "Olive Dali" in Afrin 70 percent of the weapons used in the operation of Olive Dali started in Afrin

This was also on the Turkish news, appears to be snipers taking out YPG units.

The FSA continue to go back and forth to control of Birsaya Mount

But the YPG maintained custody of it once again

BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:40 A.M.)
Among the areas recaptured by the YPG on Wednesday were the Basraya Mountains and key town of Hamam in the northern part of the Afrin Canton.

The YPG was able to retake these areas on Wednesday after they repelled another major assault by the Turkish-backed rebels.

Some artillery shelling last night from Turkish border

Tsk is shooting PKK / YPG targets in the Afrin region with Kilisten ÇNRA shootings .. There is information on the way of making heavy shoots in the region

From early Wednesday

This young lady was the first female (YPJ) defender KIA since operation olive branch began last week. Nawal Zilan, she was so young and beautiful, had her whole life ahead of her. She made the ultimate sacrifice defending their people.

Killed by Rebels in a failed attak on Qalaat Seeman front.

Early Wednesday the YPG captured some ammo and equipment. They also displayed the ID's of the KIA's from Mount Qudah (Qûdê).

Funeral and ammunition captured in the Qûdê tepe resistance

a reply to: marlbblacks
i remember whole syrian mess started because sa and qatar wanted to run a pipeline from their oil production areas thru that region into turkey to europe so they could sell their product with better profits because cheaper shipping

Germany suspends defense exports to Turkey amid Northern Syria conflict. I think though it is primarily related to the upgrades of the Leopard 2 tanks.

Norbert Roettgen of Merkel's CDU party protested that "it is completely out of the question for Germany to increase the combat strength of the Leopard tanks in Turkey if the Turkish army is going after the Kurds in northern Syria".

Under growing domestic pressure, Gabriel put an end to the deal on Thursday, at least for now.

"Concerning the current discussions about defence exports, the government is clear about the fact that we must not and will not export into conflict zones," he said in a statement.

Some more civilian homes destroyed by Turkish airstrikes and howitzer shelling in Rajo town of Afrin

Kurdish officials now requesting Syria defend the airspace above the region under operation olive branch, as it publicly proclaimed it would do last week.

Here was an additional announcement from the international volunteers committing to fight the Turks in north Syria in the Operation olive branch region. He draws parallels to the fact Erodgan moved in when ISIS was nearly destroyed, alluding it was not coincidence. It looks like some of the same members from the first announcement, but a bigger group with additional volunteers

Afarin Mamosta
@AfarinMamosta
YPG Internationalists announce they will go to Efrin to defend it from the invading Turkish army and it's jihadist allies.

I am guessing this one did not make the rounds due to photo in the background.

a reply to: [post=23082507]worldstarcountry[/post

The YPG took over Afrin in 2012, booting out Syrian government and declaring it as their own, a part of the autonomous region of Rojava.
Now they are asking for Syrian government protection.

Erdogan said "Afrin was a predominantly Arab area and that Turkey was determined to return it to its rightful owners"

Unless the YPG hand over Authority in Afrin ,I expect no help from Russia or Syrian government/ forces.
I asked myself this question of why Syria wasn't coming to the defence , now I know.

If Turkey is committed to confronting the YPG/SDF then it's a foregone conclusion of crossing the Euphrates,a red line for the USA, where things could get interesting.

a reply to: all2human
They booted nobody. The government withdrew and left administration to local militias, mostly due to being overwhelmed at the time by the ISIS and other terrorists pouring through the Turkish border freely and with ease. The Syrian government was not forced out by the Kurdish people, who for the last half century, were treated nearly as less than dogs by that same government.

Gaining de facto autonomyIn 2012, in the early stages of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian government forces withdrew from three Kurdish enclaves, leaving control to local militias. Existing underground Kurdish political parties, namely the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), joined to form the Kurdish Supreme Committee (KSC) and established the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia to defend Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria. In July 2012, the YPG established control in the towns of Kobanî, Amuda and Afrin, and the Kurdish Supreme Committee established a joint leadership council to administer the towns. Soon YPG also gained control of the cities of Al-Malikiyah, Ras al-Ayn, al-Darbasiyah, and al-Muabbada and parts of Hasakah and Qamishli.[53][54]

The Kurdish Supreme Committee became obsolete in 2013, when the PYD abandoned the coalition with the KNC and adopted the aim of creating a polyethnic and progressive society and polity in a wider Rojava region of northern Syria. PYD established the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) coalition based on a distinct progressive ideology of grassroots democracy rather than ethnicity.[55] According to Zaher Baher of the Haringey Solidarity Group, TEV-DEM has been "the most successful organ" in Rojava because it has the "determination and power" to change things, and because it includes many people who "believe in working voluntarily at all levels of service to make the event/experiment successful".[56] United in the political philosophy of Democratic Confederalism, TEV-DEM established popular assemblies.[55] In January 2014, the three cantons Afrin Canton, Jazira Canton and Kobanî Canton declared their autonomy and the Constitution of Rojava was approved. From September 2014 to spring 2015, the YPG forces in Kobanî Canton, supported by some secular Free Syrian Army label militias and leftist international and PKK volunteers, fought and finally repelled an assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the Siege of Kobanî, and in the YPG's Tell Abyad offensive of summer of 2015, Jazira Canton and Kobanî Canton were connected.

In December 2015, the Syrian Democratic Council was created. In January/February 2016, the autonomous Shahba region was founded and administrative institutions established as a fourth canton. On 17 March 2016, at a TEV-DEM-organized conference in Rmelan, Syrian Turkmen, Arab, Christian and Kurdish officials declared the establishment the Democratic Federation of Rojava – Northern Syria in the areas they controlled in Northern Syria.[57] The declaration was quickly denounced by both the Syrian government and the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.[21]

There is no way Turks will allow creation of Kurdish state and those mercenaries of Eric will all be killed .

a reply to: worldstarcountry

The YPG took control over Afrin, thus booting out the Syrian government
No branch of the Syrian government has operated in Afrin canton since.

"The Popular Protection Units (commonly known as YPG) took control of the city"
en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: all2human
They took control because nobody was in control, not because they forced anybody from the government to leave. In all the years they were there, not one time did they shell Turkey across the border. You cannot kick out the government when the government withdraws from a province on their own accord. It is that simple. To use the word they booted them out is incorrect. It is wrong. When the government leaves, somebody takes control. If it was not the YPG, it would have been ISIS or their allies the FSA/Turkey. When a region is abandoned by its government left to the whims of terrorists, that is not the same as kicking out the government.

If you cannot understand that you need to move along.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

They seceded from the state

"Ypg took controll of the city"
en.wikipedia.org...

kurdish militia took control of the city after Syrian military had withdrew,set up their own government and left the state of Syria.


Taking: An action by a government, especially under the power of eminent domain,that deprives a private owner of real property or of use and enjoyment of that property

Go after the substance not the subject.