Turkey Begins an Offensive Against Kurdish Fighters in Syria by Lefteris Pitarakis and Bassem Mroue – Associated Press
Turkey launched a military operation Wednesday against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria after U.S. forces withdrew from the area, with activists reporting airstrikes on a town on Syria’s northern border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the campaign, which followed an announcement Sunday by U.S. President Donald Trump that American troops would step aside in a shift in U.S. policy that essentially abandoned the Syrian Kurds. They were longtime U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group.
"Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area," Erdogan said in a tweet.
He added that Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Syrian National Army, had launched what they called "Operation Peace Spring" against Kurdish fighters to eradicate what Erdogan called "the threat of terror" against Turkey…