Fingers on the trigger as Turkey’s Afrin operation approaches

As the first anniversary of the Euphrates Shield operation nears, Turkey is preparing to once again enter Syria and launch another ground operation against the PYD, the Syria affiliate of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) organization. Turkey had cleared an area of 2,015 square kilometers from Daesh presence last year.

Life returned to normal as displaced Syrians returned to the northern regions secured from Daesh following the Euphrates Shield operation that was launched by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), backed by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF). Additionally, the TAF provides security, and support in rebuilding infrastructure in the region.

Despite carving out a safe zone along the Azaz- Jarabulus axis, the region is still under intense attacks from PKK/PYD terrorists stationed in adjacent areas.

As terrorists in the region keep up their attacks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed Turkey’s unease regarding this issue, adding that “we drove a dagger to the heart of the terrorist project in Syria by launching the Euphrates Shield operation. We’re determined to embark on new campaigns. We will take new and important steps on this subject very soon.”

Erdoğan also stressed that Turkey reserves the right to take steps at any given moment within the context of legitimate self-defense against PKK/PYD terrorists.

Sources report that the situation in the Euphrates Shield regions has become intolerable.

According to security sources, the launch of the operation against PKK/PYD terrorists will be sudden, without any fore-warning, as Erdoğan had earlier stated.

The remaining regions on the border with Syria will be the new points for the operation, which aims to secure more areas adjacent to those cleared from Daesh when the Euphrates Shield was launched on Aug. 24 last year.

Security experts point to the need to particularly clear the Azaz- Tal Rifat – Idlib axis from PKK/PYD terrorists.

Jarabulus, which regularly comes under harassment fire from terrorists, is also among the points of the new operation.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.