The Turkish troops have managed to seize 1,102 square kilometers (425 square miles) of territory belonging to the Syrian-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Bozdag said on Monday, according to the Hurriyet Daily News newspaper.
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On January 20, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the operation against Kurdish forces in Afrin, an area controlled by the US-backed YPG, which is considered by Ankara to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey and several other countries. Damascus has strongly condemned Ankara's actions, with the Syrian Foreign Ministry calling them a violation of the country's sovereignty.
