ANKARA - Turkey managed to thwart a possible deployment of Syrian government forces into the northwestern Afrin region, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, a day after he spoke to his Russian and Iranian counterparts.
Turkey on Monday had warned it would confront Syrian government forces if they entered Afrin to help the Kurdish YPG militia repel a Turkish offensive in the region, after reports of a deal between the YPG and Damascus government on Sunday.
Erdogan made the comments to reporters following a speech in parliament in Ankara.