well if you listen to the turkish officials the. name of the operation is declared as eliminating the power of the y p g across northern syria so they define it in a more broad the way but militarily it's an extremely risky move because we can compare this against the turkish militaries displayed. performance in our bob for example two years ago when they were carrying out an operation against the demoralized isis in a town which is way too similar smaller than a much smaller than our friend bob and it took the operation took three months and ice has inflicted heavy casualties on turkish soldiers at that time and also we can compare turkish military capacity in the urban warfare urban clashes inside turkey against probably k.-k. fighters at that time and if you compare this to with afrin which is a much less accessible territory compared to above and a much larger area and turkey will be facing against them a motivated disciplined force which is well armed and in this area is actually a pro predominantly kurdish area so it will all

thinking that i suggest that armed confrontation in the north of syria between turkish military or turkish military backed free syrian army forces and wipe each of forces is imminent at the scale of these armed confrontation is however is not debt or mind by ankara neither on current nor why p.j. but is going to be decided on the on two capitals first one is must go the second one is d.c. and the ones are the ones concerns about why p.g.d. justified is it as much of a threat to turkey as a consensus it to be i have to say that. to an eighteen year two thousand and eighteen is going to be a high probability is going to benediction years of course. i mean the strategic rationale behind the his inflammatory rhetoric first one is surely it's recolors of the most people to call consumption but the second. point is also relevant i think turkey or anchor has been feel. linking a grave threat by being encircled by the terror belt or p k k belt stretching from the north of. not then iraq starting from country in the region connecting syria to iraq we dosser to countenance in the west i mean in the

or the turkish government but after all we don't we shouldn't be forgetting actually that. the president. and when we talk about him i mean he's he's clearly the president of the turkish republic and he was elected actually to take care of the interest of the of the turkish republic of the interests of his own country not the interests of the syrian people so we have been seeing this shift and changes in turkish foreign policy towards the syrian conflict from from the first to the from the early stages of this conflict in which he was actually calling for president bashar assad to step down and until then there are stages in which he actually started to become their hopes more interested actually in containing the core dish issue in the north of syria let's move on what do you think u.n. special envoy if there is that hundred missed or is doing in sochi what's his. well i think he's trying to capitalize on this meeting in sochi because the installer believes that if he can actually channel that that the outcome of the sochi conference because after all he believes that russ

states the turkish nation state historic. this like towards kurdish aspirations in the region and as this relationship develops between the kurds and the u.s. and as this moves on from a nearly military relationship to a more diplomatic and political one which may well turn into a strategic strategic relationship that turkey states reactions going to be more aggressive and i think that's what this whole rhetoric is mostly about yes i understand the international conjuncture and how the international relations are playing a huge part in this problem right now and i agree with joshua that and met him actually as well but this is going to be between moscow and d.c. but i think that there is a current that has to be highlighted here that the turkish states historically actions towards any sort of kurdish aspirations in terms of both autonomy or independence it's a severe aggression and this displeases that turkey the turkish state and i mean we saw this in iraq you kurdistan to the reflexes of the turkish state to iraq to kurdist

this marked the heaviest turkish shelling since the turkish government stepped up threats to launch an offensive the u.s. says it will withhold a forty five million dollars payment to the un's relief agency for palestinian refugees the money which was earmarked for food aid was promised last month this is on top of a sixty five million dollars announced earlier this week. at the time when we provided that note that information to under we made it clear that it was a pledge it was not a guarantee and that it would need to be confirmed later at this time we will not be providing that but that it does not mean i want to make it clear that does not mean that it will not be provided in the future the head of the roman catholic church is taking his environmental crusade deep into the amazon rain forest on the first full day of his visit to peru pope francis is flying to port au maldonado in the southeast of the country that's where he's expected to meet with thousands of indigenous people the environmentally fragile region has been hit by deforestation and illegal mining a spending bill t

the turkish army is steadily increasing its presence along this stretch of the syrian border present to one has been threatening to attack the kurdish run area baffling for almost a week now there has been sporadic shelling. inside africa and thousands marched on thursday in protest to turkey's aggression how the wealthy and that's the goal of this large demonstration is to send a message to the world and especially to turkey concerning the turkish threats we will not be a fright. we came here to protest against the attacks on offering we will stand by offering an outreach to why p.g. . thirteen is one of three autonomy's kurdish enclaves controlled by the syrian kurdish p why do party and its armed when the y p g turkey sees the y.p. g. as an offshoot of the kurdistan workers' party or p k k which it together with the u.s. in europe consider a terrorist organization but the y.p. g. has been working with the u.s. to push ice a lot of syria not enough lean but further east of the euphrates river the americans have never had a presence in africa but the russians do and often has been r

state department is urging turkey not to invade in syria turkish forces are massing on the border in preparation for action against the kurdish y.p. gee what turkey considers the y p g a terrorist group but its fighters have been a key ally for the u.s. elsewhere in syria stephanie becker has more now from. the turkish army is steadily increasing its presence along this stretch of the syrian border president. has been threatening to attack the kurdish run area of afeni. for almost a week now there has been sporadic shelling. inside africa and thousands marched on thursday in protest to turkey's aggression in the of the north the goal of this large demonstration is to send a message to the world and especially to turkey concerning the turkish threats we will not be a fright. you know we came here to protest against the attacks on offering we will stand by offering an outreach to why. is one of three autonomy kurdish enclaves controlled by the syrian kurdish people why do party and its armed when the why p.g. turkey sees the why p.g. is an offshoot of the kurdistan workers' party or p

what our turkish escorts are telling us is that the front line with the y p g with the kurdish fighters is just further along. what is clear here on the outskirts of city is how much of a presence they are of course of the free syrian army the syrian rebels that are already taking part in this operation that. while we were here two bullets whizzed overhead. and. for this. sort of. pushed out of here in two thousand and. thirteen members of her family she tells us she is. war has now become the norm she says i mean but the now. people are used to the shelling and the explosions the young children are still scared but we've been facing this for a few years now we're not afraid anymore. there is hardly any electricity here generators are the only way to get light or heat in the winter rain has left the streets with mud. the black paint on this will be for sale. it seems some still dream of moving on from here. the landscape in this part of syria is dotted with tents millions of syrians are made homeless in their own country in the history we've been here for three years in the tent has nev

shelled aziz a city held by turkish backed forces now there are already reports of turkish troop movements along the northern syrian border and at the edge of the white peachey held territory now turkey has been angered by u.s. confirmation that it's helping syrian kurdish fighters set up a border force containing thirty thousand personnel marianna honda reports. turkish president today chip tayyip erdogan and using a party address to look staunch in the face of a u.s. specked could use force on his southern border he promised to respond with a show of force saying tikki will launch its own military operation and the northern syrian city of buffeting not so still a lot of religion that just like we do not let the kurdistan workers party or open their eyes within our borders we are determined to vanquish them on the other side of fall toward god willing in the coming days we will continue the operation to purge our southern border from terror. turkey has fought kurdish factions within its borders for more than thirty years and doesn't want to see the kurds gain power in neighboring syria th

sponsored force of thirty thousand something the turkish foreign minister says would cause irreversible damage to relations with the united states and the u.s. secretary of state in those reports says those reports aren't accurate and has held a meeting with his turkish counterpart on wednesday rex tillerson says the u.s. is only training kurdish fighters in the area something it's been doing for a long time the united states hears and takes seriously their concerns are our nato ally turkey we recognize the humanitarian contributions and military sacrifices turkey has made towards defeating isis towards their support of millions of syrian refugees and stabilizing areas of syria it has helped liberate. we must have turkey's close cooperation cheating a new future for syria that ensure security for syria's neighbors while tensions are also rising along the turkish syrian border on a second front with turkey reported to be massing forces near the kurdish controlled. in the northern syrian town as part of a so-called deescalation zone but turkey is threatening a military operation against t

hello i'm sam he's a dan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up turkish bank forces take control of a strategic mountain in northern syria. russian opposition leader like sin of and they arrested as hundreds marched through moscow to show their support and one of hong kong's most prominent activist is banned from standing for elections. yemen's prime minister is calling for an immediate cease fire in the southern city of a that earlier here q separatists are staging a coup so far at least ten people have been killed in fighting between security forces and secessionists the security forces are on the side of president. and they're backed by the saudi led coalition the session is on the other hand supported by the government of the united arab emirates the u.a.e. is also supposed to be part of that coalition scan the latest from osama bin jeff eight. yemen's prime minister says secessionists of steve in the city of aden. not speer the government had been based for the last few years there are reports of several people being killed in fighting between pro-government forces and separ

rebels shelled aziz a neighboring city held by turkish backed forces there have been turkish troop movements along its southern border with syria and that's raised concerns about the possibility of fighting between turkish forces and u.s. backed estie. well syria's foreign ministry has called the u.s. decision to back the new kurdish led border force in the rebel held more of a country a blatant assault on its sovereignty washington has confirmed that it wants to assist in the formation of a thirty thousand strong force in the areas controlled by the s.t.'s marianna holmes reports. the turkish president today chip tayyip erdogan and using a party address to look staunch in the face of the us specter could use force on his southern border he promised to respond with a show of force saying tikki will launch its own military operation and the northern syrian city of buffeting not so so the letter was ginned just like we do not let the kurdistan workers party or open their eyes within our borders we are determined to vanquish them on the other side of our border god willing in the coming days we

the constant rule of jets and artillery targeting this important high point along the turkish border. explosions over the border town of killis drawing a crowd. a strange fascination watching. but for some it's a little too close to home. even though we are hearing killis we've become used to the school has happened before when i was on the other side of the border. to another area for safety. turkey's offensive against the wipe the kurdish group it considers a terrorist organization is very visible here. it is also stirred nationalist fervor. and this is what that operation looks like inside syria turkey is backing free syrian army fighters and at the moment the main focus is pushing back from the border as the kurdish fighters say turkey's offensive has caused a bit in casualties turkey says it only targets y p g positions. but as is often the case in war facts can be hard to come. turkey's leaders stress that this is only the beginning and they intend to clear the y.p. g. from its entire border area. all the way to iraq but the y.p. g. in that area further east is supported by the

forces enough in the turkish media turkish politicians have been trying to emphasize trying to present this almost as a turkish military blow against the united states they've been impotent emphasizing u.s. military support for the white p.g. enough for in the presence of u.s. weapons not that there's any evidence of it enough in. you know this rhetoric is going to it's going to intensify the anger which is already very strong against turkey in washington as you said no matter how careful turkey is there are going to be civilian casualties these are these are going to be highlighted these are going to be heavily covered in the west. and we know the biggest military officials they flew to moscow a few days ago before this operation began in awfully and to meet there with their russian counterparts so can we safely assume here that russia gave turkey the green light to go ahead with this operation and offer. right clearly turkey would not be doing this if they hadn't gotten some form of approval from russia the question is what exactly did russia give them approval for with for an open e

fighter jets stephanie decker has more from antakya near the turkish syrian border. the turkish army is steadily increasing its presence along this stretch of the syrian border president russia has been threatening to attack the kurdish run area by fleeing for almost a week now there's been sporadic shelling after the mines in the north west of syria turkey borders the area in the north and west turkish troops are present inside syria on its southern edge and to the east are turkish backed syrian rebels so it is in effect surrounded. african is one of the autonomous enclaves controlled by the syrian kurdish p.y.t. party and its armed wing the y.p. the i.p.g. has been working with the u.s. in order to push ice a lot of syria not enough rain further east of the euphrates river in turkey seize the y.p. g. is an offshoot of the kurdistan workers' party or p k k which it together with the u.s. in europe considers a terrorist organization a free has been relatively peaceful throughout this war and it hosts tens of thousands of internally displaced syrians the americans hav

turkish officials had said that the operation was imminent. president. just a few hours before the jets to. his de facto started in the field this will be followed by. the promises. throughout the morning along turkey's western border with the turkish army had brought in bulldozers gravel and concrete blocks appearing to build up their defenses along the border with syria. tank shelled specific locations on the mountain and hours later this mountain would be targeted by airstrikes the army made us move from this position a few hours before the campaign officially began this is just one of the locations that the turkish army is shelling out free in is pretty much surrounded turkey to its west and north and there's also been a build up inside syria by free syrian army fighters to the east about three now those are the rebels that turkey supports. turkey and reinforce the f.s.a. with thousands more men over the last few days these buses drove the fighters across the border into syria they will be part of a ground offensive against the y.p. g. the kurdish gr

kurdish y p g commanders say turkish forces have fired around seventy shells at villages its controls in the african districts of northern syria the bombardment from turkish territory began around midnight and continued into friday morning a y p g spokesman in africa and says this marks the heaviest turkish bombardment since the turkish government stepped up threats to take military action against the kurdish region setting jacket joins us live from taqiyya said he was starting happening it sounds like a really gearing up to start this operation. that's right you mentioned intensive shelling there has been shelling over the last week or so sporadically but it does seem that this was the heaviest bombardment overnight into the morning as you mentioned and also now we've had turkey's defense minister being the latest senior official to add his voice to what is really a growing call of action a statement really of intent that they will go in the defense minister saying that the operation against will begin it will begin without delay and that turkey has no choice to what it calls what it

because the point to be made here is certainly from the german turkish perspective the two countries need each other the german government obviously has a very vested interest in seeing success for the deal that it helped broker between the e.u. and turkey regarding refugees regarding where refugees are housed while they are making the journey from war zones into the european union and from the turkish perspective germany is a very important country because of the element of tourism the number of germans who visit turkey every year is very high that something they want to see continue over the course of the last few days there have been cultural messages coming from the turkish government here in germany trying to encourage german citizens to go back to turkey so there are lots of reasons why the two countries want to be two to agree as far as possible the problem for them has been the pronouncements of officials the detention of certain citizens that sort of thing has soured relations but but the point to make here is that as i say today they've been trying to stress what binds them

has interfered in its domestic affairs by convicting a turkish banker for violating sanctions against iran and hakan a tele and eight others were accused of moving billions of dollars worth of iranian money through american banks disguised as food and gold sales kristen salome reports from new york. attila took the stand and insisted he never conspired to evade u.s. sanctions at the deputy general manager of hulk bank his attorneys suggested his boss and others were to blame but it was a tila who was arrested while traveling to the united states while his boss and others charged in the case remain free in turkey the only other defendant to face trial in the u.s. turkish iranian gold trader and reza rob he pleaded guilty and became a key witness for the prosecution making accusations that rose to the top of turkey's government saurabh testified he paid tens of millions in bribes to government ministers and the scheme that president rest of tired and want himself had authorized when he was prime minister turkish officials who initially lobbied u.s. officials for release have now moved t

at the border and state media reports that turkish fighters have already crossed into three. in turkey's president says the next target will be man version that's the syrian town that was recaptured from eisel in two thousand and sixteen by a kurdish led force also backed by the u.s. backed opposed by turkey well let's get more on all of this now we're joined by correspondent stephanie decker she is live for us near the turkish syrian borders and reports that the ground operation has been launched stephanie what are you hearing. yes the prime minister made that announcement that turkish troops he said had entered in of course there's an african city and then these the entire sort of region. in which is even the the mountain you see over my left shoulder there so what we understand is that a group of turkish special forces together with free syrian army fighters those are the syrian rebels that turkey supports and turned the region of africa from the northern border so the northern border with turkey and that there's fighting going on with why p.g. fighters around a village th

fighters the free syrian army which is backed by turkey together with turkish troops that have ventured sort of north of africa and west of a foot in this is sort of across the border and also we know that there's been reinforcements to the east of offering this is inside syria they haven't really moved yet but they're scared missions there's fighting already in the northwestern part reports of some villages that have been taken then you hear counter claims by the white p.g. that they haven't taken it is also very much a propaganda war and it's hard to verify the exact moves the bigger picture is certain there was an intensive air campaign which started late yesterday afternoon seventy two planes you did not and now the ground offensive is under way as well so of course it is a concern for the civilians tens of thousands around two hundred thousand the latest estimates rules a lot of i.d.p.'s because after the throughout this war had been relatively peaceful. right as you say it's very difficult to verify precisely what's happening we know that the turkish government president has said

side of the border where turkish tanks have been massing this week. the turkish army is steadily increasing its presence along this stretch of the syrian border present one has been threatening to attack the kurdish run area for almost a week now there has been sporadic shelling. side after thousands marched on thursday in protest at turkey's aggression how to have the most with the goal of this large demonstration is to send a message to the world and especially to turkey concerning the turkish threats we will not be a fright. we came here to protest the attacks on offering we will stand by offering an outreach that. is one of three autonomy as kurdish enclaves controlled by the syrian kurdish p y d party and its armed wing the y p g turkey sees the y.p. g. as an offshoot of the kurdistan workers' party or p k k which it together with the us in europe consider a terrorist organization but the y.p. g. has been working with the us to push ice a lot of syria not enough lean but further east of the euphrates river the americans have never had a presence

on the turkish syrian border. and a forty eight hour ceasefire in cities rebel stronghold of eastern has expired there are reports that it's been violated several times the russian brokered truce went into effect on friday but there's been little calm with reports of government shelling and air raids at least eight people including a child believed to have been killed. the death toll from saturday's suicide bomb attack in afghanistan's capital kabul has risen to at least one hundred and three with two hundred and thirty five others injured hundreds of people gathered for funerals and waited to hear from their loved ones i've cited hospitals and morgues the afghan president has declared three days of mourning not just for saturday's bombing but also for two other deadly attacks in the past week many afghans blame the government for failing to improve security. russian opposition leader alexina vali has been released from custody without charge after he was arrested during an anti-government rally in moscow more tha

and also the turkish backed opposition forces maybe affiliated to the f.s.a. the free syrian army they have stayed away the s.n.c. decided they were going to come over the weekend the turkish backed opposition forces well they did arrive they arrived overnight at sochi airport and then when they stepped off their plane they saw plastered all around the airport all across the branding for this congress the syrian government flag they didn't like that and so they said they would not leave the airport until all those flags were changed now map kicked off last minute round of negotiations between the turkish and the russian foreign ministries and the outcome of all that is the those representatives have gone home but what they've done is delegate their power to the turkish government delegation here and it's the turkish representatives who are now going to be representing that bloc of the opposition ok so as we play just a few minutes ago for our viewers there's still a lot of anger there sorry lavrov was reading a statement and he was interrupted and what this ge

turkish relations are under continued strain and it's likely to mean more anti-u.s. rhetoric coming from turkey at a time when things are very tense in the region kristensen me there joining me live with the latest on that from new york thank you to senior members of germany's far right f.t. posse of being investigated for alleged incitement to hate shit over social media polls and beatrix film store to criticize the peace in cologne wishing follow us online a happy new year in arabic so when it came has more now from berlin. the decision by the police to investigate alice vida the co-leader of the alternative for germany party alongside their investigation into the comments of her colleague bed weeks one stalk came at a point when we knew already that several hundred people had complained themselves about the point the points that the bear took from stalk had put out on social media the interesting thing to to say here is that following new year's day news it into news the new law has come into effect in germany which regulates what can and cannot be said online as

planes or turkish backed syrian rebels are also reported to have mobilized a free and turkey's president says the next target will be the syrian town of man beach which a u.s. backed kurdish led force captured from i still in two thousand and sixteen. we will wipe out this corridor will step by step starting from the west africa operation has defectors started in the field this will be followed but. since the promises made about have not been kept so far nobody could say eighty three when we do what is necessary. stephanie deca joins us live from near the turkey syria border and stephanie give us the latest on. military action in and around our free. will certainly those airstrikes have begun they began at five o'clock local time that's two hours ago we were actually at it ok should opposite syria watching the turks shelling throughout the day sporadically not that much we were told to move and two hours later they watched that campaign in that mountain also is being targeted turkey's also mobilized f.s.a. fighters free syrian army fighters these are the rebels inside syria that turkey s

have taken a significant why because it lies very close to the turkish border in the area just close to where we are just a further east of a hyundai and it does play into the narrative that we heard from the turkish prime minister just a few days ago that their plan is to establish what he called up to a thirty kilometer security zone pushing the y.p. g. away from its borders it has been a fluid fight however on the ground there are incidents when villages have been taken by the free syrian army and turkish forces and you know a day or so later retaken by the white b.g. but of course turkey has superiority when it comes to the sky they're flying jets they're bombing from the air and that of course carries with it a huge advantage the assert your state says the syrian government may still be using chemical weapons rex tillerson says twenty one people who suffered breathing problems in the rebel held enclave near damascus on monday were victims of a suspected chlorine gas attack rebels say while smoke was released of the syrian government forces fired a white slave was released after

turkish president brigitte type edging defiant as he addressed a march crowd in the city of course. this is a national struggle and then this national struggle to crush anyone who stands against and let this be known. it's been a week of rhetoric politicians promising that turkey was going to attack a free to rid of the y.p. g. kurdish fighters that ankara sitter's terrorists but they're also the u.s. is best ally on the ground in fighting eisel regardless of international complications turkey is fully committed to this offensive we're in turkey's border with africa and throughout the day we've heard the sound of jets in the sky also intense artillery and machine gun fire outgoing from a turkish base behind that mountain although why p.g. are extremely well trained they know the terrain in offering but turkey has superiority when it comes to the skies and that gives it a huge advantage. belligerence here heard the airstrikes late on saturday as turkey started its offensive and they are a little uneasy. over those. all that we are right next to the action with planes flying over our

as turkish troops massed along the syrian border of the us secretary of state denies washington plans to support a border force by kurdish fighters. i'm richelle carey this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. one of the celebrations in ethiopia after the release of an opposition leader and hundreds of other prisoners as part of a government and the state plus. i'm not in northern ireland where on earth are the other bird flu things worrying people who have as much as a rebirth and. and mexicans in the us senate record amounts of money home mysterious of deportation rise under president trump. the us secretary of state has denied washington had any intention to help build a thirty thousand strong kurdish for so long syria's border with turkey turkey deployed tanks in response to the move and threaten to enter syria's afrin district but rex tillerson says the issue has been mis portrayed that's the word he used he says he sought to clarify the issue in a meeting with turkey's foreign minister in vancouver on tuesday and her strongly criticized the u.s. for arming and funding th

the heaviest turkish. government stepped up threats to take military action against the kurdish region and tens of thousands of people have lined the streets of her room. to welcome the pope on the final leg of his south american. leader has appealed to the pontiff to help resolve a political crisis following the pardon given to the former president alberto fujimori. the u.n. says syrian refugees in lebanon are more reliant now than ever on international aids and with harsher winter weather forecast extra funds are urgently needed a survey shows three quarters of the one million the under one million syrian refugees in lebanon are living on less than four dollars a day many in makeshift camps sixty percent are in extreme poverty an increase of five percent on the same time last year nine out of ten refugees are regularly going hungry un agencies in lebanon say last year they received a third of the money they needed to meet the needs of refugees there appealing for two point seven billion dollars in fundin

mark will be what turkey will say because many people will tell you that without russian consent a turkish operation will be very very difficult russia is accusing the u.s. of trying to undermine efforts to end the war in syria washington had denied something awful for so long the turkey syria border made up of the kurdish syrian democratic forces but turkey is not satisfied vivier shorten says it's warning it could cause irreversible damage to relations now so again lavrov is weighing in on your list that the city using human rights for you is so trying to alternative bodies of authority on the parts of the syrian territories that is a fact and that does contradict they are an obligation. now they have even more far reaching plans and we'll have to keep that in mind and try to find ways that look of pain came from undercutting the sovereignty of the syrian state. of the u.s. defense secretary says the focus for his nation's security has moved away from terrorism onto the competition between the great powers james mattis the focus would be on countering china's expanding military and an in

in syria a fragile ceasefire in the south of the country as a turkish military offensive continues in the north. plus china's battle ivory forces autism's to find new ways to use their skills. at least forty people have been killed more than one hundred injured in a blast in afghanistan's capital kabul the taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that used an ambulance near the old interior ministry building it comes a week after taliban attack on the city's intercontinental hotel sirus jennifer glass reports now from kabul. the emergency vehicles there taking off the dead and wounded in this bombing it happened just around the corner at the second checkpoint this is a heavily guarded street the target appears to be the high peace council that's where the gate is that area is also home to the anti corruption agency here as well this is a very very busy part of town normally this road would be jammed with cars in addition to the government offices down that down that street this is a hospital just behind the camera as well is the governor's office the kabul mayor's offi

into a free in a day off the turkish jets and i'll tell you. units pounded targets belonging to the kurdish people's protection units a wipe each considered a terror group by ankara trying to capture an area controlled by the y.p. jean in northwestern syria well the region borders turkey and is cut off from fellow kurdish forces to the east takesh president. has also threatened to attack kurdish held man beach and his one pro cut issue opposition parties in turkey not to protest against the military operation. there has been nobody protesting on the streets of far the h d p congress is not a target either anybody that he needs those calls the mix the mystic of taking to the streets will pay a high price i need to stress this this is a national struggle we will crush anyone who opposes our national struggle. al-jazeera stephanie teka has the latest from near the tacky syria border. the ground offensive is now well underway free syrian army fighters those are syrian rebels supported by turkey have entered to the north of africa and to the west ac

we begin inside northern syria where al jazeera is travelled alongside the turkish army as they continue their offensive to sweep kurdish fighters from the region president reagan to an earlier war and operation olive branch could push all the way east to the front here with iraq move risks a possible confrontation though with the kurdish y.p. greenmail why p.g. militia now that's a group of fighters backed by their fellow nato ally the united states stephanie decker and hard cameraman jamil basso have this insight from the city of. as we enter syria it is the free syrian army flag that flies high here we're on a media trip into as as organized by the turkish authorities they take us close to where there's been fighting with the kurdish armed group turkey calls a terrorist organization turkish forces are trying to push it out of the region about the front line is just a few kilometers west of here both turkish troops and the free syrian army are taking part you know i'm not sure that you will see one of the f.s.a. fighters why he is involved in turkey's operation for some it seems it's p

airspace was controlled by russia but the turkish president. says they formed an agreement for turkey to move in the offensive focuses on the y.p. gee that's a u.s. ally kurdish group that turkey considers terrorists the united states has not supported the. but is aligned with the fighters east of often in the fight against i so that's where they fight as part of the syrian democratic forces the s.d.f. insists it's only enemy is isilon has asked foreign powers to help stop the turkish assaults the us france and iran all asking turkey to exercise restraint while an emergency session at the u.n. security council has been called for late monday stephanie decker is on the turkey syria border covering events for us there why have the turks now opened a new front stephanie. well some speculated before this all started that that would be the first. because these are at the say fighters free syria army these are rebels that turkey supports inside syria and most people thought that this would be a have to be the first front that they would move towards