Erdogan warns Turks against protesting Syria offensive

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is warning of a “heavy price” for protests against Turkey’s military operation against Syrian Kurdish militia, after the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) called on people to take to the streets.

“Some HDP representatives are calling on my Kurdish citizens to get out into the squares. Until now, not many people have come out,” Erdogan says in the northwestern province of Bursa.

“But let me say this here… Do not even think about it! There will be a heavy price to pay by those who respond to this call,” he adds.

Syrian-Kurds carry portraits depicting jailed founding member and leader of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, as they march during a protest in support of Afrin on January 18, 2018, in the northern Syrian town of Jawadiyah. (AFP / Delil Souleiman)

“This is a national fight. We will crush whoever opposes us in this national fight and go on.”

His warnings come a day after Turkey launched an operation with Syrian rebels to oust the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) militia from Afrin.

— AFP