Local elections in Turkey are taking on the character of general elections as foreign policy comes to dominate the conversation.
In a televised interview, Turkey's President Erdogan also floated the idea of visiting Washington after March, adding that the European Council’s decision on whether ascension talks with Turkey should be shelved “has no bearing”.
Claiming to be defeating ‘militants’ in Afrin, the YPG/PKK is criticised for indiscriminate attacks and civilian deaths.
The PKK affiliate YPG has developed relations with the US, Russia and the Syrian regime, claiming significant territories in northern Syria. But a top US general says the time has come for the group to either be with Washington or join its rivals.
Turkey has spent more than $32 billion from its own resources to aid and shelter refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.
More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terror group has targeted civilians in suicide bomb, rocket, and gun attacks.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would take necessary steps in Syria, if promises given by the US are not kept and almost all preparations have been completed for an operation in Syria.
Today marks the one year anniversary of Turkey's Operation Olive Branch aimed to clear terrorists affiliated with the PKK from the Afrin region.
The bomb was reportedly planted on a public bus and injured nine others in northern Syria.
Healthcare services in Syria’s Afrin has improved since Turkey established medical clinics in several rural areas to provide free medical services for locals.
Defence Minister Hulusi Akar says Ankara carried 147 major counter-terrorism operations, and air strikes destroyed 922 targets including arms depots and shelters used by terrorists.
The Turkish army has been deploying troops and military equipment for weeks as preparations for a major anti-terror operation in Syria.
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