The armed forces of Turkey and their allies have succeeded in completely surrounding the city of Afrin, in north-western Syria, and will continue military operations with the aim of pushing Kurdish militias away from the border area. This was stated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a speech delivered on Friday 9 March on Turkish television.

Afrin is the main objective of Operation "Olive Branch", launched a month and a half ago by the Ankara government, which has already allowed it to capture five of the seven main localities in the Kurdish-controlled region. Two days ago, Jinderes fell, according to Turkish official media: from there, troops moved towards Afrin and, according to Erdoğan, are now just six kilometres from the city's gates.

The Kurds deny Erdoğan's account

"Our entry," the Turkish head of state explained, "is imminent. We are eliminating the last obstacles before launching the siege." This account, however, has been denied by the Kurdish Ypg militias (People's Protection Units): according to spokesman Nouri Mahmoud, the city is not completely besieged and Erdoğan's army is still 10–15 kilometres away.

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Turkey's Erdogan says Syria's Afrin town under siege, entry imminent reut.rs/2tw4UNh

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Ankara nevertheless appears determined to achieve its primary objective: preventing at all costs the possibility that the Kurds might create their own independent state in northern Syria. Turkey considers the Ypg a terrorist organisation, and for this reason Erdoğan has made clear that — once Afrin is captured — his soldiers will press on towards the city of Manbij and beyond, along the Syrian-Turkish border: "We will liberate the east of the Euphrates all the way to the border with Iraq." It remains to be seen what the reaction of American armed forces will be; they are present around Manbij in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against Isis jihadists.