Turkish forces will withdraw from the Syrian border region of Afrin, leaving it to its “real owners”, once it has been cleared of “terrorists”, Turkey said on Monday. Bozdag said the capture of the town of Afrin as part of Turkey’s ‘Operation Olive Branch’ had significantly reduced threats to its borders. Bozdag said Turkey now aimed to form similar governance systems in the Afrin region, without elaborating. Turkey has been infuriated by the Western support given to the Syrian Kurdish fighters. Bozdag said Turkey had collected “most” of the weapons given to Kurdish fighters by the United States, after the YPG left the arms behind as they fled the town.

Source: Egypt Independent March 19, 2018 14:37 UTC