Turkey's 2018 military campaign seized the Afrin District from Kurdish YPG forces, displacing around 300,000 Kurdish civilians and prompting allegations of war crimes.
Key Facts
- Civilian deaths
- 395–510 reported killed
- Displaced persons
- ~300,000 Kurdish people
- City of Afrin fell
- 18 March 2018
- Social media arrests
- Over 800 users arrested in Turkey
- Politicians/journalists arrested
- Nearly 100
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Turkey designated the YPG, the dominant force within the SDF, as a terrorist organization linked to the PKK. Turkish authorities sought to eliminate what they viewed as a hostile armed presence along their southern border in the Kurdish-majority Afrin District of northwest Syria.
Operation Olive Branch was launched by the Turkish Armed Forces alongside the Syrian National Army against YPG positions in Afrin. The offensive combined airstrikes and artillery bombardment before Arab and Turkmen SNA militias entered the city of Afrin on 18 March 2018, completing the Turkish-led seizure of the district.
Around 300,000 Kurdish residents were displaced from Afrin, and Turkish forces implemented a resettlement policy relocating Eastern Ghouta refugees into vacated homes. Widespread looting and property seizures by SNA fighters were documented, while Turkish authorities arrested hundreds of domestic protesters and over 800 social media users who criticized the operation.