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The Turkish officials and media have said that a new military operation by Turkey's army in northern Syria was likely.
Warning about new Turkish military offensive in Syria came after a post on Twitter by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that read: “We tell the world that Turkey will never allow the establishment of a Kurdish state in northern Syria.”
Yeni Safak newspaper, close to Turkish government, a couple of days before the president's Twitter post had reported that the country’s army was bracing for an offensive against the Afrin canton, one of the three Kurdish cantons in northern Syria administered autonomously by the Kurdish forces. The Turkish daily further said that the preparations for the operation had been going in a surprising pace and that they were close to ending.
Last week, the Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that Turkey will not hesitate to carry out military operations in Afrin canton if Ankara saw it necessary.
The Turkish propaganda beside its military moves in Syria have so far aroused the ire of the Kurds. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in a statement published a couple of days ago said that the Turkish forces were amassed behind the northern Syria borders and appeared waiting orders from officials to start an invasion on Afrin. They stated that the expected operation, possibly codenamed Euphrates Sword, was going to take place in association with Syrian armed opposition factions.
The Afrin canton is one of the three Kurdish-administered cities in northern Syria. The armed Kurdish forces seized control of Afrin after Syrian government forces pulled out of the city in 2012.
Located precisely in northwestern Syria, Afrin is geographically disconnected from the other two cantons of Kobani and Island. A coalition of militant forces, led by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), crossed the Euphrates River in January 2016 and captured the Kurdish-inhabited town of Manbij. They struggled to advance towards Afrin to link the three independently-run cantons.
In response to the Kurdish advances towards Afrin, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield in August. The campaign majorly backed the combatants of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) militant group that seized Jarablus town and so foiled the Kurdish plans. Jarablus is located between Afrin and the other two Kurdish cantons.
Afterwards, Turkey intended to progress eastward to take control of Manbij but declined to continue as it faced the US reluctance as well as Russian and Syrian opposition.
Ankara has focused its threats of fresh military operation against the Kurds this time on Afrin possibly because it failed to persuade Washington to stop arming the Kurdish forces operating in northeastern Syria. Turkey appears to be seeking further closeness to Russia to serve its Syria goals through pressing the US
http://alwaght.com/en/News/103392/K...-to-Syrian-Govt-amid-Turkish-Invasion-Threats