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Erdogan Says Turkish Offensive in Syria has Started; Kurdish-Led SDF Says Turkish Warplanes Carrying Out Airstrikes; Turkish Presidential Spokesman Says This Isn't an Attack on Kurds; Turkey Launches Military Offensive in Northeastern Syria. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 09, 2019 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Well, it is 6:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi at our Middle East broadcasting hub, 5:00 p.m. in northern Syria, 10:00 a.m. in
Washington, D.C. A very warm welcome to two hours of CONNECT THE WORLD with me Becky Anderson. And we begin with breaking news.
Within the past hour, Turkey started its long-expected military offensive into northeastern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced it on
Twitter calling it Operation Peace Spring. And saying, it will neutralize terror threats against Turkey.
Well, this video shows Turkish war planes taking off minutes later. Syrian Democratic Forces comprised mostly of Kurdish fighters reported air strikes
on civilian areas sparking huge panic. Well President Erdogan's goal is to drive out those Kurdish forces from northeastern Syria. That is a goal
that he has stated time and time again. He spoke about that very goal at the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September, just a couple
of weeks ago.
Now, those same Kurdish forces have been for years a main U.S. ally in the fight against ISIS. Turkey considers them terrorists with ties to a
Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey. You are seeing live picture comes to us from Turkey. Let's just go through specifically what we know here.
Why are the Kurds so upset? Widespread criticism by both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S., supporting the Kurdish position over President
Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria. Not just in Washington and European capitals, of course, but understandably in the region of
northeastern Syria controlled by the Kurds.
We've got Ryan Browne joining us from the Pentagon. And Ryan, just remind us as I've just said, there have been widespread criticism, bipartisan
criticism by lawmakers in Washington, European capitals, really up in arms about what is going on. We're not hearing an awful lot from these European
capitals, but we do know there is significant concern about what happens next in Syria. Remind us why it is that President Trump said he made this
decision to withdraw troops from Syria.
RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, that's a great point. I think one of the key issues is here. What changed here? What drove President
Trump to make this change? This has been a long-standing tension. You know, U.S. NATO ally Turkey has long been opposed to America's working
relationship with the Syrian Kurds. The Turkish party sees them as being linked to Kurdish separatist groups in Turkey. Turkey's long been opposed
to that U.S./Kurdish partnership. Turkey has long threatened a military incursion for years. Going back years, Turkey has threatened this.
They've postured before.
What's changed here? Well U.S. military's assessment of Turkey's intent changed a little bit. They began to believe based off the deployment of
forces in Turkey and movement of forces that Turkey was serious this time, that they were going to push through with this.
[10:05:00]
President Trump made the decision to get the U.S. forces that have been in the area out of the way. And some critics both in Washington on Capitol
Hill, Republican and Democrat, and even some former senior military officials who oversaw American strategy in the Middle East, have criticized
that decision. Because by pulling those troops out -- those troop that served as a deterrent they have prevented Turkey from entering Syria. By
pulling them out, they argue that Trump gave Turkey the green light to go ahead and invade northern Syria, to attack America's Kurdish allies. And
the real concern is that this will undo all the progress that they had made fighting ISIS. It risks escapes from many of these ISIS prisons that the
SDF, the Syrian Kurds have been operating in partnership we the U.S. So there's real concerns about the consequences and fallout from that
decision.
ANDERSON: There part two really big issues here. Aren't there? The potential massacre, some say, of Kurdish fighters now vulnerable to Turkish
attack. And the prospect of an ISIS resurgence. Ryan, I want to play you some sound from an interview I did with Ibrahim Kalin in the past 48 hours
-- the Turkish President spokesman, chief counsel. He says, Turkey does not want to attack Kurdish forces. Have a listen to his take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IBRAHIM KALIN, TURKISH PRESIDENT'S SPOKESMAN (via phone): There has been in no way an attack on the Kurds of Syria or an invasion of any part of
Syria that has never been our intention. That's never been our course of action. And I think all actions so far speak much louder. Turkey has done
much more for the Syrian people and the Syrian refugees than any other country in the world. And it will continue to do so for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And, you know, the jury may be out on what happens next to the Kurds. But what Ibrahim Kalin was saying there is very clear, there are
3.5 million Syrian refugees who have been taken in by the Turks. And the Turks say they want them to go home and indeed those refugees they say want
to go home as well. Standby, Ryan.
Nic Robertson joining me out of London. Mark Hertling with us today as well. And Nick Payton Walsh. Apologies, it is Nic Robertson. And we've
got Joe Johns, I believe, joining us shortly as well.
Nic, you've just heard from Ibrahim Kalin there. Let's just remind ourselves as we watch the first images of this now Turkish incursion,
military action into northern Syria. Why it is that the Turkish President says this is important.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: He believes that the Kurdish -- any kind of Kurdish entity or autonomous area along his border
in the northeast of Syria could be a potential threat to Turkey's stability. He's had a long running battle with Kurdish separatist within
Turkey itself. Particularly in the east of the country. That's been hard for is been over decades.
The Kurdish groups there he believes are affiliated with the Kurdish groups who are in Syria. And he believes that's a threat. Particularly he would
consider that a bigger threat when they've had the assistance of being militarized into a military force inside Syria that's assisted the United
States in forms of the SDF, the Syrian Defense Force in taking on ISIS. That's the sort of threat he would see there.
But let me just add a couple of thoughts into the equation here. You know, why is this so big and such a big issue for European nations this time?
Not only the ISIS threat that we're talking about here, that take away the Kurdish element to focus on the Turkish threat, that therefore means that
the ISIS fighters under their control could get loose again, could regroup, could take advantage. But it's the very nature of those millions of
refugees that Kalin talks about there. The 3.5 million that Turkey has helped out.
Let's go back a couple of years, 2014, 2015. All those refugees flooding out of Syria into Turkey and onto Europe caused massive, massive political
upheaval in Europe. You can factor some of that into the Brexit decision in the U.K. You can factor it into the rise of some right-wing parties that
we've seen in Germany and other countries in Europe since then.
So the issue and the potential for there to be another flood of refugees who wouldn't be welcomed in Turkey who could potentially end up in Europe
as well. Could be seen and is seen and would be seen as a major, major political destabilizing force inside Europe.
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So the concerns here are massive. Not just humanitarian. Not just wanton deaths. But ISIS and this bigger political threat in Europe.
ANDERSON: Absolutely. Well put, Nic.
Nick Paton Walsh is on the ground. He is along the Turkish/Syrian border. He's on the phone. Nick, as we look at images just coming into CNN just
moments ago, tell us what you're seeing, what you're hearing, what the latest is on the ground.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Becky, the shelling from where we are standing -- we've had to move away because part
of what seems to herald the operation here was to shut down of most phones, cell phones along the border area.
Shelling appears to have slowed slightly from where we're standing. I don't see as many plumes of smoke on the skies, we did before. But about
an hour ago it was quite clear that sort of a battery of sorts had been launched around the town of Diyarbakir and that persisted for 20 to 30
minutes or so, at least. None of what I saw of those shells seemed to land inside the main populated area of Diyarbakir. But as you recall, that has
a one of the two towns the U.S. forces vacated about sort of 60 hours or so after that Sunday evening phone call.
At this point, I think it's not really clear what the Syrian Kurdish instance will be or exactly how far into northern Syria the Turkish
military intends to go. They are clearly here in a substantial number. There was a change in atmosphere, frankly, through the afternoon as it
became clear that something potentially was going to occur because of the nature of the rhetoric coming out of the Turkish government. And then we
have President Erdogan declaring the operation started not long after he had spoken to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. So a seismic moment
I think potentially here.
The key question that was hard to answer is exactly the extent of the military operation the Turkish have planned. From what we've seen here is
maybe a barrage intended to send a message to allow convoys to move into northeastern Syria. We saw some smoke on the horizon after some of those
artillery shells were fired and their impacts were felt on the ground around us, often in open fields. I have not yet seen a large movement of
Turkish armor but there is a vast expansive countryside here along the border. Very hard to get a grasp of what may be occurring in other areas
outside of our vision. But certainly, this operation underway. The key is how extensive will it be -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Let's just remind ourselves why it is that this northeastern corner of Syria wedged between sort of Turkey to the north and Iraq to the
east, is so crucial. This is an area that you will hear spoken of in Europe capitals, in Washington and elsewhere, as an area that effectively
incubated ISIS. I spoke to -- and again, I'll stick with you Nick Paton Walsh for the time being for your sort of analysis on this. Ibrahim Kalin
who is chief counselor to Turkish President, spoke to me just in the past 48 hours. He told me now that ISIS is everybody's responsibility. Have a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KALIN: Well the gist of it is that, you know, this captured ISIS fighters, the terrorist have to be brought to justice. Europeans have refused to
take them so far. So who's going to take responsibility for them? It's not any single country's responsibility. It's everybody's responsibility
to bring an end to this horrible episode in modern history of the Middle East and Syria, that is ISIS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Just how big a concern should we have, Nick? Given your experience on the ground covering both Iraq and Syria, of the resurgence of
the Islamic group at this point. Given what we are seeing and as a result of America pulling out and the Turks moving in.
WALSH: (INAUDIBLE) -- really comes down to exactly how well formulated ISIS are. We know they have possibly 10,000 of their fighters, about 8,000
of those Syrian/Iraqi in detention facilities. We know there are tens of thousands in a displacement camp. Which is obviously much worse guarded as
a detention facility is now this operation is underway. The Kurds made it clear that would not be their priority.
And a European intelligence official I spoke to said, look, you know, there is a major risk of a breakout if the Syrian Kurds are distracted. Now of
course, those men are in the cross hairs of the U.S. military that are still here. They will probably have a say. Iraq has counterterrorism
forces not far. The problem is there will be a vacuum if the Syrian Kurds to try and push the Turkish military back. And then ISIS become possibly -
- and it's awful to say this -- but kind of an asset in play to the various warring sides here.
[10:15:00]
Now if the Syrian regime wants to grab them for future leverage to the Syrian Kurds use them that way. Turkey it seems is part of the deal that
was struck between Donald Trump and President Erdogan on Sunday. Said they would (INAUDIBLE). I mean the White House said Turkey said they would take
the ISIS prisoners into their custody. Now that's a massive task even on a good day. Not when you're busy fighting the people you rightly have as
prisoners in their custody. Becky, I think --
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh --
WALSH: Sorry.
ANDERSON: Keep going, Nick. Keep going.
WALSH: The second issue we face is, obviously, this is a strategic part of the Middle East. It links too many of the key countries. It's also an
area the Kurds are supposed to have as a homeland. But it happens to be a main highway between the Mediterranean and Iran and Iraq. Iran has used it
and Iraq very material towards its allies in Lebanon. That's a threat towards Israel. Pretty much all of the woes and ills you've seen in the
past 12 or 10 years, can some way be traced back to the Syrian border. Even going back to the '06, '07, '08 insurgency in Iraq. Many of the
fighters seem to come from Syria too. It's integral and many perhaps thought we might be seeing a moment where the Syrian Kurds have their bit,
the regime were held in check, nobody wanted to mess with the Americans. Now the Americans are pulling back and the Turkish are moving in. All the
cards are thrown in the air and we have to see where they land again -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh is on the ground. I want to bring in Mark Hertling at this point. The Turkish foreign minister has just tweeted,
Peace Spring Operation. The region will be cleared of terrorists. The border security and terrorist integrity of Syria will be guaranteed. The
immigrants will be able to return home safely. Peace and tranquility will come to the region.
Put like that, it all sounds very sane and sensible, doesn't it?
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It does, Becky. And it doesn't really underscore the complexity of this entire situation.
There will be repercussions of this incursion by the Turkish forces into northern Syria in many ways beyond what even you pointed out. You
mentioned early on when you opened the broadcast about the two factors of massacre of the Kurds and the potential for an ISIS insurgence. I would
say that second one is a given. Your question just now, they would not only have thousands of fighters return to the battlefield, but those
detaining camps that we're talking about in northern Syria hold estimated about 70,000 ISIS fighters and their families. About a third of those
detainees are women and children under the ages of 12.
So you have what will be an effect of another migration of fighters going back to their countries, going back to the battlefield. ISIS has
proclaimed they have and our intelligence estimates say they have over $400 million in funds and they still have their leadership. So you will see a
resurgence of ISIS. That is a guarantee. It will be ISIS 2.0, Al Qaeda 3.0 across the Middle East and in other countries of the world.
But I would add to that, Becky. You're also going to see repercussions for the future of NATO. You have a NATO ally, Turkey, going into a country
where the Kurdish forces, the Peshmerga forces and others as part of the Syrian Defense Forces have been fighting as part of a coalition with 81
other like-minded countries to defeat ISIS. Those Kurdish forces, as you said earlier, are more than likely going to be massacred by the Turks.
There's no peacefulness in that.
The next thing that I would comment on, the partnership of the United States with any of the Kurds in the future is going to be suspect. I'd
remind everyone that the President of Iraq right now, Barham Salih, is a Kurd himself. Masoud Barzani, the former President of the Kurdish
government, has tweeted out saying that this is a detestable operation. And implied that it's a bang on the future relationship between Kurds in
the United States.
Beyond all that, you have all of the allies in not only the Middle East but in Europe, saying, what is the United States doing by giving the green
light to President Erdogan. And that's really all it took. It took President Trump saying to Mr. Erdogan, go ahead and conduct these
operations for this to happen. Because as Ryan Browne said earlier, the Turks have been wanting to do this not just for years but for decades to
wipe out this Kurdish enclave which the Kurds see as part of their territorial homeland. Extends into northern Syria. Goes all the way into
Iraq and Iran. The Kurds are saying this is our territory and homeland. So that will have repercussions.
[10:20:00]
And beyond all that, you're just going to see allies of the United States around the world saying, can we ever trust the United States again to stand
up for their partners?
ANDERSON: And in this region, you do see this -- you certainly are aware of this sense. That there's a sort of recalibration about how countries
around this region might work with the U.S. going forward. Why they would work with the U.S. going forward. I want to bring in Joe Johns. Because I
-- hold on, Mark, for one sec. sorry, just let me bring in Joe Johns. Because the President, the U.S. President has just tweeted the following.
We should never have been there in the first place.
His response to the signs of the start of this military incursion into Syria -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right. That is just one of the tweets he's done this morning on this very issue. There were
several and some of them a bit dismissive of the U.S. efforts over there in Syria. Also disjointed which has been kind of what we've seen throughout
from President and his administration.
This is an example from earlier, maybe a couple of hours ago. Fighting between various groups that has been going on for hundreds of years. USA
should never have been in the Middle East. Move our 50 soldiers out. He writes, Turkey must take over captured ISIS fighters. That Europe refused
to have returned the stupid, endless war, as the President tweets, for us are ending.
So that is what the administration has been pointing out. Number one, that what you're talking about is between 50 and 100 special operators, light
infantry, moving to another part of Syria. The administration also trying to make very clear what is not happening here. They're saying the
President hasn't encouraged, he hasn't sanctioned any of this activity. He certainly hasn't agreed to it and even expressed his concern about its
incursion by Turkey there in that part of Syria. Back to you.
ANDERSON: Joe, thank you for that. I want you all to just stand by. I want to take a very, very quick break. We are following breaking news this
hour as Turkey's President says his country's military offensive into Syria has begun. A lot more reporting on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well our breaking news this hour. Turkey has begun its operation targeting Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria. In a tweet
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the aim is to clear what he calls terrorists from the area and bring peace to the region.
[10:25:00]
The Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces say, the Turkish war planes have been carrying out air strikes and targeting civilian areas.
This of course comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces will be pulled back from this area of Syria effectively
giving the Turks a green light. Let's bring back our panel. Joe Johns is at the White House and CNN military analyst, Mark Hertling, a former U.S.
Army commanding general with us. Ryan Browne is at the Pentagon. And, Ryan, what's the latest there? What's the latest line from the Pentagon on
this?
BROWNE: Well, the Pentagon has struck a slightly different tone than the President. You know, they, too, kind of said that they are opposed to
Turkey's incursion. They've made that very clear early on. They've long warned Turkey against doing this saying that there will be destabilizing
consequences.
But again, the Pentagon not stepping in. They've pulled their troops back. They've withdrawn from the border area kind of clearing the way for Turkey
to conduct these operations. Turkey had been warning the U.S. military for some time that it was considering doing this. And things have now finally
happened. The U.S. military, though, still embedded with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces elsewhere in the country.
And one of the things they're keeping a close eye on are these detention areas where 10,000 ISIS fighters are being held including 2,000 foreigners,
many of them from Europe. They're keeping an eye on that because as the Kurdish forces move to react to this Turkish incursion, there's a real
concern they will be moving troops away from these detention centers leaving them unguarded, leaving them vulnerable to an ISIS breakout.
Something the U.S. military is very concerned about. But again, the U.S. only has about 1,000 troops in Syria. So there's only so much they can do
given that its key force on the ground, the Syrian Democratic Forces, is now fighting for its very life against this Turkish incursion -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, it's not really about the number of assets in the end, is it on the ground? It's just sort of -- it's this veil of security that the
Turkish forces had from support -- from U.S. support and the support that they've had. And it's the vulnerability that they now feel. And let's
talk about that.
Widespread criticism by both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. over President Trump's decision, of course, to withdraw troops from Syria.
We're hearing this in Washington and in European capitals. But understandably, it's in the region of northeastern Syria controlled by the
Kurds that we are hearing most criticism and concern. The head of the press office for the Syrian Democratic Forces, he mostly Kurdish group,
tweeted that the U.S. owes people there an explanation about why this is happening. And what he calls the failure of the U.S. to fulfill
commitments. Joe, will they get that explanation from the White House, do you believe?
JOHNS: The President has been very clear that he does not like what he has referred to in his tweets as the stupid, endless wars. And it's something
we talked about on the campaign trail. And he's been very insistent upon this and this is apparently his way of dealing with it. Now the
difficulty, as you said, comes from members of both parties on Capitol Hill. Most importantly members of his own party. The Republicans who say
this is turning your back on allies. Essentially leaving the Kurds to die. And something that the United States will regret for a long time.
The President has tried to minimize that at least in his messages to the public as has the administration. They would like people to think this is
no big deal despite the fact that all over the world there is an outcry about how the administration's handling this -- Becky.
ANDERSON: I want to get to Istanbul. I know Arwa Damon is standing by. Arwa, we've heard from the Turkish foreign minister tweeting, peace spring
operation. The region will be cleared of terrorists. The border security and territorial integrity of Syria will be guaranteed. The immigrants will
be able to return home safely home. Peace and tranquility will come to the region. Your thoughts on the perspective from Ankara at this point?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, those are some very, very lofty goals. And what is an extraordinarily complicated battle
space. Not to mention the plethora of unanswered questions. Should in fact, Turkey somehow managed to go in and secure this 30-kilometer buffer
zone that it is aiming to do.
[10:30:00]
Those people that live inside the buffer zone are going to flee as the fighting commences. As the bombardment commences. We're already starting
to see that. Where are they going to be going? Will they be able to return back home in theory once Turkey has if it is able to secure these
areas. Will they expect to live under a Turkish administration?
Now Ankara for its part is pointing to other areas of Syria where it has gone in, it has cleared out either ISIS fighters or YPG, the Kurdish
fighters from those areas. And is saying, look. There in these particular areas, we were able to set up a system that is working. But these areas
that Turkey is targeting right now, they have completely different dynamics -- Becky.
ANDERSON: We're going to take a very short break at this point. This is breaking news. I want to keep everybody in position. Couple of minutes.
We'll take this break and we'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're watching breaking news here. Turkish war planes carrying out strikes in civilian areas of Kurdish held northeastern Syria. And
these are pictures just coming into CNN. You can see the streets are relatively empty there. This is northeastern Syria. This coming to us
from one of our affiliates, evidence of some smoke in the air just earlier on.
We are seeing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announcing the military action by tweet just a short time ago. The claims are that he is
trying to clear the area of terrorists and create safe zones to repatriate Syrian refugees.
Well, Turkey's military action has to be said was made easier by the Trump administration's drawdown of U.S. troops there. As we understand it, that
decision made in a telephone call between the U.S. President and his Turkish counterpart. And that left behind the Kurdish forces who fought
and died by the thousands alongside American forces in their fight against ISIS. Well, Syria has called on civilians to mobilize to help defend the
region.
Turkish President, Mr. Erdogan says, U.S. President Trump waited too long to take action in Syria and left Turkey no choice but to act on its own.
The words of the communications chief or the President in an opinion piece in "The Washington Post" earlier today.
[10:35:00]
We're joined now by CNN's military analyst, Mark Hertling, a former U.S. Army commanding general. And CNN's military analyst, Col. Cedric Leighton.
Also Arwa Damon is in Istanbul.
And Colonel, let me start with you. The Turkish President is very clear. The U.S. President left things too long and, in the end, he said, we had to
get on with this action. Which we have been flagging for months. Your thoughts?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Becky, I think that he does have a point that we spent a lot of time in Syria. But I'm
not sure exactly what Erdogan is talking about here. The Turkish President was standing by in essence while American forces with their Kurdish
partners created a situation for that was really a benefit to Turkey in northern Syria. We eliminated a large portion of the caliphate in northern
Syria and we allowed a lot of, you know, a lot of movement for the Syrian Democratic Forces. That I think is part of the issue because --
ANDERSON: Sir, I'm going to just stop you for one moment. I'm so sorry. We just have got our chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward who is
in northern Syria. I'll come back to you, sir, momentarily. But let's get to Clarissa Ward joining us now on the ground. Clarissa, describe what
you're seeing and hearing where you are.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Becky, we are in the town of Ras al-Ain, which is on the sort of eastern edge of the
proposed first stage of the Turkish offenses. And I can tell you we're currently in a massive traffic jam. Filled, the roads choked with panicked
civilians desperately trying to get out of Ras al-Ain. There have been by my count at least six strikes here. We've seen six plumes of black smoke.
At least one area appears to be on fire. And essentially, it's just absolute gridlock here as civilians try to get out of the town and to
safety. But with little idea of what the Turkish military has in store, what might be coming next.
As you can imagine, this is everybody civilian wise, it's their worst nightmare playing out in front of them. And so, there is a very real sense
of somewhat chaos and also tension as people desperately try to flee their homes and try to understand what might be happening next.
ANDERSON: Yes, and the humanitarian organizations have been warning for some time of the potential harm to civilians. What are people telling you?
How are they expressing how they feel? What are their fears at this point?
WARD: I think it's surreal to them. Because there was this hope up until the last minute that perhaps President Trump would change his mind. That
perhaps the U.S. would stand in support of this Kurdish ally and would prevent this sort of military incursion from happening. Now there's
widespread fear about what exactly the Turks plan to do. Which targets are being hit. For the moment it appears to be, you know, Kurdish military
targets which the Turkish view is this sort of existential terrorists' threat, that are being hit.
But of course as you well know and anyone who's covered war knows, Becky, once the mortars and rockets are flying and, you know, then you always have
the potential for civilian casualties. And you certainly have, you know, an almost assumption that there would be some chaos playing out with
regards to civilian life. I mean, this road is choked with families. I've seen motorcycles with five or six people on them. People with their
babies, their children. Mattresses strapped to the roofs of their car. They're desperately trying to get out of the city. They don't know where
they're supposed to be going, where they're going to sleep tonight, or what the future will bring for their town and for their country.
ANDERSON: As we listen to Clarissa Ward who is in northern Syria, we are looking at pictures from Kurdistan 24 TV. The clear evidence there of
activity. On the Turkish/Syrian border. Folks, we're going to take a very, very short break. Back after this.
[10:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: All right. Our breaking news for you this hour. Hundreds of civilians have fled the border region in northern Syria within the last
hour. This as Turkey begins its operation targeting Kurdish forces in the northeastern area of Syria. You are looking at live pictures from the
border.
The Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces say the Turkish war planes have been carrying out air strike and targeting civilian areas.
The Turkish foreign minister said on Twitter, and I quote. The region will be cleared of terrorists and peace will come to the area.
Arwa Damon is in Istanbul and she joins me now. We've got about 90 seconds before our break, so just remind us. Why does Turkey want to launch a
military assault here and what might the consequences be -- Arwa?
DAMON: For Turkey this is an existential crisis -- as you heard Clarissa say earlier. They view and believe that the YPG is one in the same as the
PKK, the separatist group they have been fighting for decades. And the two groups are linked together. Turkey for quite some time now has been
warning the U.S., warning Syria that it will be taking this on its own if the solutions along its borders is not resolved.
For Turkey, the fact the U.S. allied themselves with the YPG is a betrayal of epic proportions. Because they view it as if the U.S. has allied itself
with a terrorist organization. It is very black and white for Turkey. And Turkey has now reached a point where they are fed up with waiting for the
U.S. They don't want to spend the time trying to build up some sort of partnership. They have been warning that they're going to go it alone.
And now they are going it alone to a certain degree. Perhaps with some sort of tacit nod from the Russians.
But, Becky, the consequences of this for the region are potentially devastating. War is ugly. We know that. War kills innocent civilians and
war quite often has very long and very brutal consequences.
ANDERSON: Arwa Damon is in Istanbul. We have assets around the region. Stay with us. We're going to take a very short break.
That's your breaking news this hour. Turkey's President says that it started its military offensive into northern Syria. We hear from a Kurdish
SDF spokesperson next hour who fought alongside U.S. forces and now feel they have been abandoned.
That is all ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD. Do stay with us.
[10:50:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
ANDY SCHOLES, WORLD SPORT: All right, we've got two pivotal games. We're going to be watching closely, Becky. What do you have coming for us on
CONNECT THE WORLD?
ANDERSON: Well, I'm going to be keeping a close eye on those, Andy. But this hour in the immediate future, Turkey launching its military offensive
inside northern Syria. We hear from a Turkish commander on the ground there. Plus an historic fight over the balance of power in Washington that
is unfolding right in front of our eyes. All that coming up after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:00]
END
