Turkey keeps regional ambassadors in loop about Afrin

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Ministry is keeping ambassadors from several countries in the region informed about Turkey’s ongoing Operation Olive Branch in Syria's Afrin, according to a Turkish diplomatic source on Sunday.

Ambassadors of Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been invited to the ministry where Turkish ambassador Sedat Onal will brief them about the operation, the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to media, said.

On Saturday, envoys and mission chiefs of permanent members of United Nations' Security Council -- United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China as well as Iran -- were also invited to the ministry for a similar briefing.

Turkey launched the operation in Afrin on Saturday at 5 p.m. (1400GMT).

The operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region as well as to eliminate terrorist groups PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh and to protect Syrian people from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council’s decisions and self-defense right under the UN charter, according to the military.

The PYD/PKK is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group, which has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.

Since the mid-1980s, the PKK has waged a wide-ranging terror campaign against the Turkish state in which an estimated 40,000 people have been killed.