Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his ruling party’s legislators on Tuesday that the month-long offensive into the northwester enclave of Afrin has so far been progressing slowly.
He says Turkey is not there “to burn and destroy” the enclave but to ensure it becomes a “safe and livable place.”
Erdogan said that, however, “in the coming days, the siege of Afrin city center will commence at a more rapid pace.”
Turkey launched its offensive to clear Afrin of the Syrian Kurdish militia it considers a “terrorist” organization and an extension to its own outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting within Turkey.
Turkish troops have so far seized border regions encircling Afrin, including strategic hills.
The fate of Syria’s Kurds is the Levant’s next humanitarian crisis — on top of all the others.