On Feb. 4, most Turkish newspaper headlines blared deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag’s statement that “US soldiers wearing People’s Protection Units [YPG] insignia are also targets” in Turkey's offensive against Kurds in Afrin, Syria.
The United States has supported the Kurdish YPG in the battle against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, but Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group. Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) hasn't forgotten the images of US soldiers sporting YPG patches, which date back to June 2016.
But pictures of patches aren't that important to the Turkish public, which is more baffled by recent images of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group of Turkish military-backed rebels opposed to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) fought alongside the FSA during Operation Euphrates Shield against IS in Syria. The public didn’t pay much attention to the FSA then. Now, however, with Turkey's offensive on Syrian Kurds in Afrin, the FSA's significance is rising. The change began Jan. 19, the day before Turkey launched the Afrin operation, with images broadcast of 20 buses carrying FSA fighters across the border into Syria. Most Turks were surprised to see that so many fighters could be mobilized so promptly.
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