Turkey continues hostilities in Afrin despite UN cease-fire
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to stay and slay a "dragon" in his military’s month long-campaign against a Kurdish militia in Syria, dismissing assertions from Western allies that the Security Council resolution is intended for the entire war-battered country.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refuses to abandon a military campaign in the Kurdish-run province of Afrin, rejecting calls by Western allies that a United Nations Security Council resolution for a cease-fire across Syria applies to the Turkish incursion.
The Security Council voted unanimously on Feb. 24 for a 30-day cease-fire across Syria to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid amid Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s weeklong assault on the rebel enclave of Ghouta that has killed almost 600 people, a quarter of them children. UN officials say Assad has so far failed to honor the truce.
Syria’s neighbor Turkey, which has backed rebel factions against Assad since the war broke out in 2011, welcomed the UN resolution. Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted, "The entire world should say in unison stop this massacre."
But Turkey insists the UN decision will not affect its month-old battle against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin. Newspapers on Thursday cited Erdogan as saying Turkey was fighting Kurdish “terrorists” in defense of its borders.
