Turkish forces pushed deeper into northeastern Syria on Friday, the third day of Ankara's cross-border offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters that has set off another mass displacement of civilians and met with widespread criticism from the international community.
Turkish forces pushed deeper into northeastern Syria on Friday, the third day of Ankara’s cross-border offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters that has set off another mass displacement of civilians and met with widespread criticism from the international community.
In Syria, residents fled with their belongings loaded into cars, pickup trucks and motorcycle rickshaws, while others escaped on foot. The U.N. refugee agency said tens of thousands were on the move and aid agencies warned that nearly 500,000 people near the border were at risk — in scenes similar to those from a few years ago, when civilians fled Islamic State militants.
Turkish officials said the Kurdish militia has fired dozens of mortars into Turkish border towns the last two days, including Akcakale, killing six civilians, including a 9-month-old boy and three girls under 15. On the Syrian side, seven civilians and eight Kurdish fighters have been killed since the operation began, according to activists in Syria.
“We have to be aware of this and mobilize the resources of our intelligence to undercut this emerging tangible threat,” Putin said. “It is not enough to say you understand Turkey’s legitimate concerns, we want to see this solidarity in a clear way,” he said. He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threat to “open the gates” and let Syrian refugees flood into Europe was “totally out of place,” adding that the EU will never accept “that refugees are weaponized and used to blackmail us.”
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