Turkish President declares to surround Afrin, Syria

Afrin, Syria will be surrounded by Turkish troops in the coming days. Photo: AFP

"This will prevent external support (for the Syrian Kurdish forces). Then no one will be able to bargain anymore," Erdogan said in a speech to lawmakers from the Justice and Development Party.

"We will let those who want to create a terror corridor on Türkiye's southern border know that it is not easy to do so," the Turkish president pledged.

Earlier, some media reported that Kurdish forces had reached an agreement with Damascus to send Syrian government troops into Afrin. Ankara denied this information.

On January 20, Türkiye launched Operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish forces in the Afrin region of Syria. Along with the Turkish army, there were also fighters from the Free Syrian Army.

The Kurds have previously accused Türkiye of using napalm, but the General Staff said it had not used weapons banned by international treaties and that the weapons were not in service with the Turkish army.