Turkey says it will press ahead with all out attack on Kurdish held city of Afrin in Syria - Polidicks

[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/19/turkey-says-will-press-ahead-attack-kurdish-held-city-afrin/[/url] [QUOTE]Raf Sanchez, middle east correspondent 19 JANUARY 2018 • 6:00PM Turkey said Friday that it would press ahead with a full scale assault on a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria despite pleas from the US to hold back. Ankara has been threatening for days to send its forces into Afrin, a Syrian district near the Turkish border controlled by Kurdish forces who are allied with the US but mortal enemies of Turkey. Turkish troops shelled the area on Friday and said it was moving units of commandos near the border as well as mobilising pro-Turkish Syrian rebel groups for the attack.[/QUOTE] This second article claims they're invading right now but I can't see any other news pieces saying the same thing. Also it's a big all caps title, I rarely trust them to begin with. BREAKING : TURKEY INVADES SYRIA, GOAL TO ‘DESTROY YPG’ [url]https://al-sura.com/turkey-invades-syria-goal-to-destroy-ypg/[/url] [QUOTE]By Haider Al-Kufawi - January 19, 2018 Istanbul, Turkey (AL-SURA MEDIA) – Turkey began it’s operation after over 2 weeks of military preparations. The Turkish military has launched its special forces, regular forces, Turkish-aligned Free Syrian Army rebels and air force towards the Syrian city of Afrin. The main objective is to control the city of Afrin and defeat the ‘Peoples Protection Units’ (YPG) force currently in the city as it represents a terrorist group for Turkey which has now built a large land holding on it’s borders.[/QUOTE] [editline]FUCK[/editline] Turkey steps up Syria shelling as invasion of Afrin looms [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-42747702[/url] [QUOTE]Turkey has intensified its shelling of a Kurdish militia in northern Syria, ahead of a threatened ground offensive aimed at driving them out of the area. Syria has warned against an incursion, threatening to shoot down Turkish jets. Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said the shelling was the "de-facto start" of a planned invasion of Afrin.[/QUOTE]

Wishful thinking that Turkey would stop at ISIS, or that stopping ISIS was even their goal.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;53066434]Wishful thinking that Turkey would stop at ISIS, or that stopping ISIS was even their goal.[/QUOTE] ISIS has never been Turkeys goal. They actively avoided killing ISIS if they could persuade them to go mess with the Kurds instead. They were practically allies.

fuck turkey, can the world please do something about them?

like why doe some countries get heavy economic sanctions when they step out of line but its fine for turkey

Watch Turkey get bigger, when civil war ends.

And the european union actualy considers turkey to join them if they changed their ways. When they arent screwing around with kurds they are doing exercises on aegian islands that they claim belong to them or sail into greek sea borders for no apperent reason.

[QUOTE=Pat.Lithium;53066935]like why doe some countries get heavy economic sanctions when they step out of line but its fine for turkey[/QUOTE] Turkey is NATO's gateway to West Asia.

[QUOTE=Big Snake Bos;53067063]And the european union actualy considers turkey to join them if they changed their ways..[/QUOTE] No worries, they will NEVER get into EU. Not anymore.

The YPG in Afrin are generally considered the most fanatic, most well trained and most educated in the north so it'll be interesting to see how things turn out against overwhelming firepower.

[QUOTE=Pat.Lithium;53066935]like why doe some countries get heavy economic sanctions when they step out of line but its fine for turkey[/QUOTE] NATO allies necessary for the southern shield against Russia, Europe's buffer against the middle-east. Turkey can do whatever they want and no one can tell them not to because then Turkey can say "Well I guess we'll just ally with Russia/stop detaining migrants ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

I honestly have no doubt that Turkey will show no concern for collateral damage on this offensive. As if they weren't already the new movie villain.

[QUOTE=SeamanStains;53066449]ISIS has never been Turkeys goal. They actively avoided killing ISIS if they could persuade them to go mess with the Kurds instead. They were practically allies.[/QUOTE] Yeah I'm going to need a source on this.

[QUOTE=Riller;53067169]NATO allies necessary for the southern shield against Russia, Europe's buffer against the middle-east. Turkey can do whatever they want and no one can tell them not to because then Turkey can say "Well I guess we'll just ally with Russia/stop detaining migrants ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"[/QUOTE] Yeah we let Turkey to do our dirty work to not stain our "european values". Or we could just make a proper border on the turkish border and stop propping up an authoritarian figure in turkey. Who knows maybe Turkey will be the next one making more refugees in the area, so our inaction now will lead more refugee crisis in future because we wanted to appear like the white knight EU "safeguarding justice". In the end it will be the people in middle-east again suffering war. How about EU stop giving into Turkeys demands for once.

Yeap, confirmed by al jazeera they are bombing them now

[URL="http://www.tsk.tr/BasinFaaliyetleri/BA_47"]TAF Statement[/URL] [QUOTE]DATE : 20 Jan 2018 TIME : 17:35 At 1700 local time, Operation Olive Branch has been commenced by the Turkish Armed Forces to establish the security and the stability of our borders and our region, to neutralise terrorists belonging to PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and DAESH at Northwestern Syria in Afrin region, and to liberate the friendly and brotherly peoples of the region from the oppression and abuse of those groups. The operation is being executed based on the rights of Turkey derived from the international law, UNSC resolutions directed towards counter-terrorism efforts; including UNSC Resolution 1624 (dated 2005), UNSC Resolution 2170 (dated 2014), UNSC Resolution 2178 (dated 2014) and the right to legitimate self-defense as referred to within the Article 51 of the United Nations Charter with full and utmost respect for the territorial integrity of Syria. During the planning and the execution of the operation, only the terrorists and shelters, positions, weapons, vehicles and tools belonging to terrorists are being targeted, and all necessary measures, sensitivity and attention is directed towards prevention of any potential harm befalling onto the innocent and the civilians. [/QUOTE] Also: [video]https://twitter.com/taylieli/status/954724970030096386[/video]

I wonder how Russia/Syria feels about this

[QUOTE=AhoyMate;53067495][URL="http://www.tsk.tr/BasinFaaliyetleri/BA_47"]TAF Statement[/URL] [/QUOTE] I like that they included that little part about it being an anti-ISIS campaign even though there aren't and have never been ISIS folks in the area. And they call their brutish invasion "Operation Olive Branch," lmao.

I saw this coming a mile away when Turkey invaded Syria the first time a couple years ago. The Turkish army was pretty fucking incompetent in that invasion though, it took them several months to take a small city and so many of their Leopard 2s were getting destroyed it was becoming a meme. Can't see this going much better for them.

[QUOTE=Taepodong-2;53067838]I saw this coming a mile away when Turkey invaded Syria the first time a couple years ago. The Turkish army was pretty fucking incompetent in that invasion though, it took them several months to take a small city and so many of their Leopard 2s were getting destroyed it was becoming a meme. Can't see this going much better for them.[/QUOTE] The lack of actual combat experience of the Turkish forces, being basically conscripts, was a major factor. The Leopards were also used in urban and semi-urban combat that tanks are not designed for, resulting in ATGM teams destroying them through their thin side armor (the same reason you have all those videos of lone Syrian T-72s being knocked out by ambushing RPGs). The Turks also failed to utilize combined arms tactics as well as they should have, so the Leopards had little infantry support and thus were easy pickings.

I hope the Kurds embarrass the fuck out of them.

[QUOTE=The Rifleman;53067964]I hope the Kurds embarrass the fuck out of them.[/QUOTE] The kurds have years of combat experience vs ISIS on their side, which is a significant factor. Depends on whether the Turks have actually gotten their shit together.

[QUOTE=Native Hunter;53067548]I wonder how Russia/Syria feels about this[/QUOTE] NPR said that Russia is condemning it as something that will just add more violence and extend the conflict in Syria. Which is rather hilarious for them to say. [editline]21st January 2018[/editline] [QUOTE=BuffaloBill;53068307]The kurds have years of combat experience vs ISIS on their side, which is a significant factor. Depends on whether the Turks have actually gotten their shit together.[/QUOTE] On the flip side, the Turkish army is an actual formal army while ISIS is as much a ragtag militia group as the Kurds are.

[QUOTE=Orkel;53067942]The lack of actual combat experience of the Turkish forces, being basically conscripts, was a major factor. The Leopards were also used in urban and semi-urban combat that tanks are not designed for, resulting in ATGM teams destroying them through their thin side armor (the same reason you have all those videos of lone Syrian T-72s being knocked out by ambushing RPGs). The Turks also failed to utilize combined arms tactics as well as they should have, so the Leopards had little infantry support and thus were easy pickings.[/QUOTE] Don't forget that the army was weakened after the "coup" attempt in 2016.

[QUOTE=Riller;53067169]NATO allies necessary for the southern shield against Russia, Europe's buffer against the middle-east. Turkey can do whatever they want and no one can tell them not to because then Turkey can say "Well I guess we'll just ally with Russia/stop detaining migrants ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"[/QUOTE] naah, this is just long play by Russia, soon Putin will be proud to announce that they retook Constantinople

[QUOTE=Dwarden;53069700]naah, this is just long play by Russia, soon Putin will be proud to announce that they retook Constantinople[/QUOTE] And Erdogan will still call it a victory somehow.