Feb 20, 2018, 1:11 PM

Syrian Army deployment in Afrin 'Black Propaganda':Turkey

Syrian Army deployment in Afrin 'Black Propaganda':Turkey

TEHRAN, Feb. 20 (MNA) – Media reports about the Syrian pro-government troops’ entry in Afrin district are "black propaganda", but "secret bargaining" on this issue cannot be ruled out, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Tuesday.

"It is quite clear that the reports on the agreement between the regime and the YPG are black propaganda. However, this does not mean that there cannot be any secret and dirty bargaining there", Kalin said, as quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper.

On Monday, Syrian state television channel Ikhbariya reported that pro-Syrian government forces would enter Afrin area "within hours." At the same time, Damascus hasn't commented on the issue yet.

Commenting on the report, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Damascus against supporting the Kurds, while the country's Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said that if Syrian forces entered Afrin, this would lead to a catastrophe.

At the same time, senior Kurdish official said that Syrian Kurdish forces and the country’s government had agreed on the deployment of Syrian army troops along border positions in the Afrin region to curb the Turkish campaign. However, this information has been refuted by a YPG representative in Afrin Brusk Haseke, who had called them false and fake news in his interview to Sputnik, saying that the Syrian government forces would not enter Afrin.

Turkey has been conducting the "Olive Branch" in Syria's Afrin since January 20, aiming at targeting the Kurdish YPG, allegedly affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara regards as a terrorist organization. Damascus has firmly condemned Turkey’s military campaign, calling it a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

News ID 132299

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