Operation Olive Branch

Operation Olive Branch
	Part of the Rojava conflict, Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, and the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present)
	; Turkish-backed opposition control SDF control Syrian Army controlFor a more detailed, up-to-date, interactive map, see here.
Date	Main combat phase:; 20 January – 24 March 2018; (2 months and 4 days); Main insurgency phase:; 25 March 2018 – 9 August 2019; (1 year, 4 months, 2 weeks and 1 day)
Location	Afrin and Azaz districts, Aleppo Governorate, Syria
Result	Turkish and SNA victory
Territorial; changes	Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army capture the entire Afrin District, including a total area of 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi) and 282 settlements including Afrin city; YPG-held territory in Afrin District is captured by the Syrian National Army, linking Azaz and Idlib (previously cut off since February 2016); Low-level SDF insurgency continues;
Belligerents
Turkey; Syrian National Army (SNA); Other rebel factions	Democratic Federation of Northern Syria; Syria (20 Feb. – 21 March); Sinjar Alliance; International Freedom Battalion (IFB); TKP/ML TİKKO; Supported by:; Iran (alleged);
Commanders and leaders
Gen. Hulusi Akar; (Minister of Defence, Army Chief until July 2018); Gen. İsmail Metin Temel; (Operations chief commander, until December 2018); Lt. Col. Muhammad Hamadin; (Third Legion and Levant Front commander); Col. Ahmed Othman; (Sultan Murad Division top commander) ; Fehim Isa; (Second Corps and Sultan Murad Division commander); Sayf Balud; (Hamza Division top commander); Abu Muslim; (Levant Front commander); Maj. Yasser Abdul Rahim; (Sham Legion commander, until 7 February); Lt. Wael al-Mousa †; (First Legion commander); Ahmad Fayyadh al-Khalaf †; (Samarkand Brigade field commander)	Bahjt Abedo; (Afrin Region defense minister); Mahmud Berxwedan; (YPG and SDF Afrin commander); Qehreman Cudî †; (YPG and SDF Afrin commander); Tokshin Botan †; (YPJ commander); Zilan Judy †; (YPJ commander); Haji Ahmed; (Army of Revolutionaries commander); Abu Omar al-Idlibi; (Northern Democratic Brigade commander); Viyan İsyan; (MLKP commander); Ibrahim Maktabi; (NDF commander); Mohamed al Faraj; (NDF commander); Muthanna Nasser †; (NDF commander)
Units involved
See order of battle	See order of battle
Strength
6,400 Equipment Unknown number of F-4E 2020 Terminator; Tens of F-16 Fighting Falcon; Unknown number of Leopard 2 A4; Unknown number of M60T Sabra; Unknown number of T-155 Fırtına Howitzers; Unknown number of T-122 Sakarya Rocket Artillery; Unknown number of FNSS ACV-15; Unknown number of Kirpi APC; 2 T129 ATAK; ; 10,000–25,000	8,000–10,000 (late January); 20,000 (late February); 800+
Casualties and losses
Per SOHR:; 616 killed; 96 killed Per SDF:; 2,772 killed Per Turkey:; 318 killed (as of 27 March); 61 soldiers and 1 civilian worker killed, 243 soldiers wounded	Per SOHR:; 1,586 killed (as of March 2019); 91 killed Per SDF:; 600–876 killed; 62 killed Per Turkey:; 4,612 killed or captured
	389–500 civilians killed in Syria; (per SOHR & SDF); 7–9 civilians killed in Turkey (2 Syrians) 150,000–300,000 civilians internally displaced
	a The TAF announced the start of Operation Olive Branch on 20 January, while the Turkish Defence Minister stated it "de facto started with cross-border shelling" the day before when one additional SDF fighter was killed.

Operation Olive Branch (Turkish: Zeytin Dalı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army (SNA) in the majority-Kurdish Afrin District of northwest Syria, against the People's Protection Units (YPG) of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The air war and use of major artillery ended as the Arab and Turkmen militias of the SNA entered the city of Afrin on 18 March 2018, and the SDF insurgency in Northern Aleppo began.

Between 395 and 510 civilians were reported killed in the operation. Other reported war crimes include the mutilation of a female corpse by SNA fighters, the killing of civilians due to indiscriminate shelling by Turkish forces, the alleged use of chemical gas by the Turkish Army, and the indiscriminate shooting of refugees fleeing from the conflict area into Turkey by the Gendarmerie General Command.

In Turkey, the government issued restrictions on press coverage, with Reporters Without Borders noting that the Turkish media was expected to be in "service of the government and its war goals". Hundreds of people were arrested for demonstrating against the operation, and over 800 social media users and nearly 100 politicians and journalists were arrested for criticizing it. Turkish police also arrested numerous leaders and high-ranking members of pro-Kurdish and left-wing political parties. The use of the term 'olive branch' (a traditional symbol of peace) in the operation's name has been criticised as Orwellian and a "mockery".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that a total of 300,000 Kurdish people have been displaced. In the aftermath of the conflict, Turkish forces implemented a resettlement policy by moving refugees from Eastern Ghouta into the newly-empty homes. Many houses, farms, and other private property belonging to those that fled the conflict have been seized or looted by the SNA. In a study of 24 key informants from Afrin, all reported loss of housing, land or property following Operation Olive Branch. Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the operation in Afrin would be followed by a push to the town of Manbij, which the US-backed SDF captured from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2016, Turkish forces stopped a few kilometres short of the town.

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