Sputnik- Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that an operation in Syria's Afrin has de-facto started on the ground.

The day before, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said in an interview with the Haberturk broadcaster that an operation in Afrin had "de-facto" started with cross-border shelling.

Turkey has been threatening to launch an operation in Afrin since last week after the US announced its decision to start training a border protection force composed of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), affiliated with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), considered to be a terrorist group by Turkey. The day before, the operation de facto started.