The Heat: Turkey’s ‘Operation Olive Branch’

The Heat

Turkey military operation

For over two weeks now, Turkey has been involved in an assault against the People’s Protection Units or YPG in northern Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched ‘Operation Olive Branch’ to drive the Kurdish fighters out of Syria’s Afrin district.

Turkey has long considered the YPG to be terrorists and wants to secure a 30-kilometer buffer zone along its southern border. Both France and the United States have expressed concerns about the operation which targets a group the U.S. has supported with arms, training and air support in the fight against ISIL.

CGTN’s Michal Bardavid reports.

Follow Michal Bardavid on Twitter @michal_bardavid

To discuss all of this:

  • Guney Yildiz, visiting fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations 
  • Giran Ozcan,  representative of the Peoples’ Democratic Party to the United States, a Kurdish pro-minority party
  • Metin Gurcan, a security analyst and columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse.
  • Daniel Serwer, senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations 

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