Turkish forces and the Free Syrian Army have moved into Afrin city, the heart of the Kurdish canton of Afrin in northwest Syria.
In the culmination of an eight-week offensive, the Turkish-FSA occupied key areas of the city, days after surrounding it and cutting off water.
The capitulation of the Kurdish militia YPG appeared to come quickly. The Turkish-FSA attempt to capture the city only began on Friday, accompanied by shelling.
Kurdish officials and the YPG said that a hospital was hit, with 15 people killed — a claim disputed by the Turkish military, but which appears to be verified through geolocation analysis. Apart from this, there is no news of significant civilian casualties.
The UN said on Friday that almost 50,000 people have been displaced from the canton.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke about the advance on Sunday morning, at a ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli: “The terror corridor has been broken in four fronts.”
With the loss of Afrin and other towns, as well as all of northwest Syria along the Turkish border, the Kurdish center of authority in Syria is in the cantons of Kobane and Cezire in north and northeast Syria.
#Afrin: Video shows that there is no destruction in #Afrin City. Well done, #OliveBranch forces. pic.twitter.com/0o2IX0i7Zf
— WorldOnAlert (@worldonalert) March 18, 2018
Jihadists and fascists [Grey Wolves] are reportedly assisting Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria [VIDEOS]
https://www.thecanary.co/global/2018/02/02/jihadists-fascists-reportedly-assist-turkeys-invasion-northern-syria-tweets-video/ 2/2/2018
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Symbol of the #Afrin offensive: Turkish soldier making wolf sign (sign of Turkish supremacists) and #Rabia sign (sign of #Islamism especially of #Muslimbrotherhood)
[ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWea03dXkAIIKbJ.jpg ]
https://twitter.com/MitanniKarduchi/status/965943866112299009 2/20/2018
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Erdogan marries Turkish ultranationalist [Grey Wolves] salute with that of Muslim Brotherhood
[ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DX_LywXW0AAMiIg.jpg ]
https://twitter.com/K24English/status/972720139383734273 3/11/2018
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He made the gesture, which is meant to look like a wolf and is associated with the far right Idealist Hearths movement, who are also known as the Grey Wolves, while reciting one of his favourite slogans: “One nation, one flag, one state, one homeland.”
The Grey Wolves have traditionally been associated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a right-wing political party which is expected to contest the next election as part of an alliance with Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
After the gesture, Erdoğan made the Rabia gesture, a four-fingered salute with thumb bent signifying Muslim Brotherhood defiance of the Sisi regime in Egypt.
https://ahvalnews.com/recep-tayyip-erdogan/erdogan-makes-grey-wolf-sign-rally 3/10/2018
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Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has nurtured a close relationship with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, which dominates the SNC. This is one reason why a broader opposition coalition against the Baath regime has failed to coalesce, since non-Islamist elements in Syria were alienated by the precedence accorded—by the intervention of the Turkish government—to the Brotherhood.
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/erdogan-pays-his-foreign-policy-7719 11/12/2012
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It comes as no surprise that the Muslim Brotherhood group in Syria has welcomed the invasion of its own country.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/4/290984/Opinion/Erdogan%E2%80%99s-aggression-unleashed-.aspx 2/14/2018
Egypt condemns Turkey’s occupation of the city of Afrin, Reiterates refusal to violate the Syrian sovereignty
https://www.mfa.gov.eg/English/MediaCenter/News/Pages/Egypt-condemns-the-occupation-of-Turkey-to-the-city-of-Afrin.aspx 3/20/2018
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Emirates have stood against this operation, just as Egypt has. Indeed, the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak, which is close to Erdogan, went so far as to say that YPG were receiving support from Abu Dhabi and Cairo in Afrin and that Saudi Arabia was also involved in these activities.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/the-united-arab-emirates-turkeys-new-rival 2/16/2018
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Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. have helped pay the stipends for the Syrian fighters the U.S. is supporting, American officials say.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-seeks-arab-force-and-funding-for-syria-1523927888 4/16/2018
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Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq: Iran can become our best & closest partner in Iraq. We welcome Iranian advisors in Sunni areas to help rebuild them. We face 2 challenges – expelling terrorists & the US occupation. mobp.as/KO9el https://t.co/4A6F78qjUg
https://twitter.com/DavidMWitty1/status/971719956541911040 3/8/2018
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US Congress passed bill calls for direct aid to the Christian units operating in the Nineveh Plains • US to Aid Christian Militias, Refugees Directly clarionproject.org/us-aid-christi… https://t.co/R5nzAPpUdS @clarionproject https://t.co/UitIRqpAFw
https://twitter.com/davidvergili/status/935119815701917697 11/27/2017
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One of the groups that has welcomed the creation of the [Nineveh Plain Forces] NPF is the Syriac Military Council (MFS, Neo-Aramaic acronym), West Kurdistan’s Assyrian militia. […] The alliance between the YPG-YPJ and the MFS has also led the Assyrian militia to participate in the liberation of the Yazidi region of Sinjar, in South Kurdistan.
https://www.nationalia.info/new/10430/assyrians-in-kurdistan-arm-themselves 1/9/2015
ICYMI: Shammar Arab al-Sanadid Army did a tour after helping liberate Hasaka, starting there, visiting Qamishlo, Qantaniye, Sinjar & Til Alo
https://twitter.com/Elthosian/status/629856767015550976 8/8/2015
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The Arabs of the [Sinjar Resistance Units] YBŞ are mostly of the Shammar tribe and worked with PKK & YBŞ forces to fight #IS in Arab villages just outside of the Sinjar region.
https://twitter.com/Matthew__Barber/status/979436112610553856 3/29/2018
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The jihadist groups that Turkey is employing as proxies to assist with the war on Afrin are now threatening Afrin’s Yazidi and Christian religious minorities, who fear falling victim to atrocities such as those committed by ISIS against the Yazidi population of Sinjar, Iraq in 2014.
https://thedefensepost.com/2018/02/02/opinion-us-allies-support-sdf-afrin-syria/ 2/2/2018
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A delegation of the Democratic Conservative Party (linked to Humaidi Daham & Shammar tribe of Jazira) journeyed from Qamishli to #Efrin in solidarity against the Turkish invasion, donating blood, visiting the wounded & paying their respects at the grave of the martyr Avesta Xabur https://t.co/upThzdeKRi
https://twitter.com/ver_scholl_en/status/969829786922246144 3/3/2018
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On Monday [January 29], [Syriac Military Council] MFS, a Christian Syriac military organization, announced that it would send forces to Efrin “in support of SDF-YPG/J to the defense of the region and populations against Turkey and allied forces.” […] MFS, or Mawtbo Fulḥoyo Suryoyo [is] linked to the Syriac Union Party.
https://thedefensepost.com/2018/01/31/syriac-military-council-afrin/ 1/31/2018
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Syriac Leader Urges U.S. to Help Kurdish Allies Who Protected Christians in Afrin
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/03/27/syriac-leader-urge-u-s-to-help-kurdish-allies-who-protected-christians-in-afrin/ 3/27/2018