Erdogan says Turkey has ‘de-facto’ launched ground operation on Syria’s Afrin

Istanbul (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Ankara had “de-facto” already launched an operation on the ground to oust Kurdish militia from the Syrian town of Afrin.

“The Afrin operation has de-facto been started on the ground,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in the city of Kutahya, without specifying further. “This will be followed by Manbij,” he added, referring to another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town to the east.