Turkey to lay siege to Afrin city center soon: Erdogan

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said the Turkish army would lay siege to Syria’s Afrin city center in the coming days.

Addressing the Justice and Development (AK) Party's parliamentary group meeting, Erdogan said Turkey entered Syria's Afrin region "to make the region livable and secure".

The president said the "lasting" security of the region was of "utmost" importance for Turkey.

"Afrin city center will be besieged in the coming days," he said. "So that the external aid coming to the city and the region gets cut."

Erdogan highlighted that Turkey would make its red lines clear to everyone.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists from Afrin.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from 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 resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.

The military also said only terror targets were being destroyed and that "utmost care" was being taken to not harm civilians.