Turkish FM says Afrin operation to end in May
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was speaking at a press conference from Vienna on Thursday.
When asked when the Afrin operations would end, he said: "We wish for it to finish as soon as possible, even before May.
"The critical spots have been controlled, especially the mountain tops. When we arrive in Afrin [city], we have to be even more cautious so that civilians are not harmed.”
The assault on Afrin's Kurdish population began on January 20.
The Sham Legion or the Faylaq al-Sham, a Turkish-backed Syrian Islamist group, has claimed on Thursday that they have taken control of Jandaris, southwest of Afrin city. But the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that monitors the conflict reported that the Turkish forces and their Syrian militia have failed to control the town.
Turkey’s state-run media reported that Turkish forces had taken the town centre but operations continued in some neighbourhoods while armed drones were targeting “terrorists” trying to flee the area.
The Turkish air force has been bombing Jandaris since Wednesday night to storm the town, the monitor reported, adding that the local authorities have recovered the bodies of seven civilians killed by the airstrikes on Wednesday.
Turkey has repeatedly denied they target civilians as part of their military operation.
A video has gone viral on social media in which a shepherd, named Mohammed Qaraman from Shera district in Afrin is captured by FSA and questioned.
The Turkish-backed FSA fighters accused him of being a member of PKK/PYD. According to information obtained by Rudaw, the shepherd stayed in his village to take care of his 25 goats.
PKK in Iraq
After Iraqi elections, Turkey will conduct a joint operation with Iraq against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Cavusoglu explained, and he has spoken with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in this regard.
"Iraq shall be cleared from all terror organizations," Cavusoglu said. "Clearing the PKK and other terror organizations is important for us, Iraq and Syria. We will take joint steps in this regard."
Iraqi elections are set for May 12.
Turkey’s Ambassador to Iraq Fatih Yildiz met with Iraq’s National Security Advisor Falih Fayadh. “Fighting PKK” was one of the topics they discussed, Yildiz tweeted on Thursday.
They also spoke about the security situation in Kirkuk, opening a second border crossing between Iraq and Turkey, and the fate of Turkish citizens jailed in Iraq.
The PKK is headquartered in the mountainous Qandil region in the country's northeast corner.
The Turkish FM also said that Salih Muslim is in Sweden and that they have requested Sweden to detain him.
Muslim is currently free to travel in the European Union after he appeared before a Czech court, which granted him bail on the condition that he will return for further legal proceedings.
Muslim founded the PYD, which Ankara considers to be the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, an allegation the PYD denies.
Last updated at 4:55 p.m.