Syria: Locals ask Turkey to help clear Tal Rifaat

ALEPPO, SYRIA - MARCH 27: Locals from the Syrian city of Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo and many Free Syrian Army (FSA) members are asking Turkey to help liberate their land from YPG/PKK terrorists.Around 500 people from Tal Rifaat -- including civilians and FSA members, and people forced to flee the city by YPG/PKK terrorists -- asked Turkey to extend its current Operation Olive Branch from Afrin, Syria to Tal Rifaat.Mahmoud Allito, Tal Rifaat’s local council head in the nearby city of Azaz, told Anadolu Agency: “The PKK captured the region in 2016. More than 50 villages were occupied following PKK attacks. Amid heavy terror attacks, families were forced to flee to the Turkish border… Nearly 250,000 civilians were forced to flee the region.”On the significance of Tal Rifaat, Allito said: “It borders regime-held regions. The terrorists have captured the region and seized locals’ crops… Here [Tal Rifaat] is important for them [YPG/PKK terrorists] in establishing their ‘state’ along the Turkish-Syrian border.”“Liberating Tal Rifaat is important for the stability of the Operation Euphrates Shield region,” he added, referring to a successful Turkish operation in 2016-2017 to rid the region of terrorists.Allito stressed that many Tal Rifaat locals chose to live in tent camps in Azaz rather than being ruled by terrorists of the YPG/PKK, the terrorist PKK's Syrian branch.He said: “We hope that our Turkish brothers and the FSA continue their operation and liberate Tal Rifaat and its surrounding region from the occupying PKK terrorists.” (Footage by Saher el Hacci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)