Battle for strategic Syrian peak continues
As Turkey fights to reclaim the strategic hilltop of Bursaya a second time, it's getting harder for the president to use the Olive Branch offensive to drum up support.
Maintaining control of a strategic hilltop is a priority for Turkey as its “Olive Branch” offensive drags on against Syrian Kurdish forces in Syria’s Afrin region.
On Jan. 22, Turkish forces claimed victory over Bursaya amid cries of "Allahu akbar," only to lose it within hours to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Yesterday, Turkish forces and their allies from the Free Syrian Army planted the Turkish flag on top of the hill, declaring they had seized full control of Bursaya once again.
But authorities were forced to put the kibosh on a government-sponsored media tour of the hill today amid news that the YPG had beaten back the Turkish-led force around a village at the foot of the hill. The hill, which serves as a buffer between the Turkish-controlled Euphrates Shield zone and Afrin, is a strategic prize. Overlooking Azaz, a logistical hub for Turkish military operations in Syria, Bursaya is a bridgehead to the rest of Afrin, which is why Turkey was hell bent on seizing it, YPG sources told Al-Monitor.
