The military operation against the Kurdish militia of the People's Protection Units (YPG), Ankara's pet peeve, has been launched, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday (October 9th).

"The Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army [Syrian rebels backed by Ankara, Ed] have started Operation 'Source of Peace' in northern Syria," the Turkish head of state said on Twitter.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's message on Twitter

The Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Syrian National Army, just launched #OperationPeaceSpring against PKK / YPG and Daesh terrorists in northern Syria. Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor to our southern border, and to bring peace to the area.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 9, 2019

CNN Türk reporter reported several loud explosions in Ras al-Ain, northern Syria, adding that planes had flown over the border checkpoint evacuated by US special forces on Monday, protecting their Kurdish allies so far. In the region.

Turkey intends to create a "safe zone" in northern Syria to allow the return of millions of refugees it has hosted on its territory. It also wants to remove the threat that constitute in its eyes the Syrian Kurds, she considers as terrorists.

With Reuters and AFP