Turkish attack on Afrin: ‘The Kurds put their trust in the US and the West’
By Kersten Knipp
24.02.2018
The Kurdish enclave of Afrin in Syria is under attack by Turkey. According to a Kurdish affairs expert, because Kurds can’t rely on foreign powers, they have allied with the Assad regime purely out of self-defense.
Deutsche Welle: Mr. Dilbar, what is the current situation regarding the Turkish attack on Afrin in Syria? How far has Turkey advanced?
Fawzi Dilbar: The region has now been under attack for 34 days. Until the beginning of this week, Turkey had achieved comparatively modest success. That is why the Turkish military has intensified its air raids over the last few days. That’s the only way it can make any progress on the ground. This has led to many villages being destroyed. This is an attempt to displace the local inhabitants, or force them to evacuate. By Monday of this week, 88 villages in close proximity to the Turkish border had already been cleared. Half of them have been completely destroyed. Since then, the shelling has further intensified, leading to more villages being evacuated.
Read more at http://www.dw.com/en/turkish-attack-on-afrin-the-kurds-put-their-trust-in-the-us-and-the-west/a-42727724
