Turkish forces have seized the Syrian town of Afrin yesterday, taking control of the town-center after Kurdish YPG forces pulled out. Video shot by state-run TRT WORLD showed Free Syrian Army rebels, which are backed by Ankara, celebrating the Turkish victory, as soldiers raised a Turkish flag on a local government building. “Most of the terrorists have already fled with tails between their legs. Our special forces and members of Free Syrian Army are cleaning the remains and the traps they left behind. In the center of Afrin, symbols of trust and stability (refers to FSA and Turkish Flags) are waving instead of rags of terrorists (refers to PKK and YPG flags),” President Erdogan said.
The Turkish victory over Afrin has angered the Kurdish administration of Syria’s Afrin region, which indicated that its forces will shift from direct confrontation to guerilla tactics, pledging to create a “constant nightmare” for Ankara and its Syrian backed militants. Co-chair of the Afrin executive council, said in a televised statement that Kurdish fighters had shown “unparalleled steadfastness and resistance” in the fight, but that Kurdish authorities had decided to evacuate civilians from Afrin “to avoid a worse humanitarian catastrophe.”