Afrinpost – Special
On the second day of the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish region of Afrin in northern Syria on January 21, 2018, the Turkish Prime Minister, Ali Ali Yildirim, announced the entry of his occupying forces to Afrin, a day after launching air strikes in the region, targeting everything that comes to life in Afrin.
At that time, the Turkish occupation army said in a statement that it had bombed 153 targets of the Syrian Democratic Forces so far, and that the targets are strongholds, bunkers, and weapons arsenals used by the fighters, adding that artillery fire continued from the ground.
The Turkish occupation announced that its military aircrafts destroyed 108 military targets belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces. At the diplomatic level, the Turkish occupation tended to buy the silence of countries and the Arab media by marketing its lies that focused on an alleged separatism by the Syrian Kurds and the SDF.
In this context, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned representatives of the diplomatic missions of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq and Lebanon in order to convince them of its aggression, as it had summoned, representatives of the diplomatic missions of the member states of the UN Security Council and Iran, and informed them of their planning for the attack.
Some official international positions were issued regarding this invasion, some of whom considered it a legitimate right for Turkey to defend its borders, and some of them considered it a violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian lands.
On January 22, 2018, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that Turkey had “legitimate” security concerns in the region, and that it was aware in advance of the military operation.
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said on the first day of the military operation : “We urge Turkey to exercise restraint and ensure that its operations remain limited in scope and duration, and accurate in its objectives to avoid civilian casualties.”
The French foreign minister expressed his concern about the “deteriorating situation” in Syria, and called for stopping the fighting in Afrin, and allowing humanitarian aid to reach everyone. He asked the Security Council to hold an emergency meeting, on January 22 after launching Turkish invasion.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Zigmar Gabriel warned, on the twenty-first of January, 2018 , of “unforeseeable dangers” due to Turkey’s military confrontation against the YPG, and he said: “This operation is cause for concern.” Gabriel believes that after the Kurdish forces succeeded in combating the organization of the so-called Islamic state, Syria needs steps to achieve stability and peace. As for “the new military confrontations, it is the last thing that Syria needs,” adding that the Syrians have suffered enough, and he said that “everyone’s efforts should aim at achieving progress on the political level.” This will be presented in the next round of Syria talks that will be held next week in Vienna.
The British Foreign Office spokesman said about the Turkish invasion of the Syrian city that Turkey has a legitimate interest in ensuring the security of its borders, and that his country is committed with its NATO allies to find solutions in Syria.
As for Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on January 22 that Russian officials are in contact with the Turkish leadership regarding the military operation being carried out by Ankara against the YPG in the Afrin region in northern Syria, refraining from commenting on If Moscow was aware of the operation in advance. He stated that Russia still believed in the importance of the territorial integrity of Syria.
While Egypt rejected the Turkish invasion, and the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, on January 21, 2018, expressing its rejection of Turkish military operations against the city of Afrin in northwestern Syria, and said that this represents an attack and a new violation of Syrian sovereignty, and that such operations undermine efforts to To fight terrorism in Syria. The statement called for the participation of all spectra of the Syrian people in serious negotiations, without excluding any party to reach peaceful solutions.
With the Syrian regime contented with hollow statements, the so-called deputy foreign minister and expatriates Faisal Mekdad said that his country would appropriately respond to any Turkish move on the Syrian city of Afrin, and added, “We warn the Turkish leadership that any military action is initiated in the Afrin region, we will We will consider it an aggression launched by the Turkish army on the territory of Syria. “
