Kurds denounce Turkish 'occupation' in Syria

19/3/2018 19:04

        A senior Syrian Kurdish official says Turkey's offensive on the Syrian town of Afrin is an "occupation" that endangeres the rest of northern Syria.
        
        Aldar Khalil, a leading Kurdish official, on Monday condemned Turkey for the assault and for raising the Turkey's flag in a Syrian town.
        
        He says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to spread his influence in Syria as a way of restoring the Ottoman empire's former influence. He says: "The whole of northern Syria is in danger."
        
        Turkish troops and Syrian opposition fighters allied with Ankara captured Afrin on Sunday, nearly two months after Turkey began its offensive on the enclave.
        Erdogan, who first launched military operations in Syria in 2016, has repeatedly said Turkey will not allow a "terror corridor" along its border and has vowed to push eastward in Syria after Afrin, to prevent the Kurdish militia from linking up territories it controls in eastern and western Syria.