Turkey's Afrin operation: The latest updates

Turkey announced that it had launched "Operation Olive Branch" on January 20 to clear Syria's Afrin region of the YPG/PKK and Daesh, which Turkey considers to be a threat to its national security. TRT World has the latest updates on the operation.

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch at 14:00 GMT on January 20 to clear Syria's Afrin region of the YPG/PKK, after months of warnings on the issue.

The operation started days after the US announced the formation of a 30,000-strong "Border Security Force" composed of YPG/SDF militants near Turkey's border in northern Syria.
The announcement was met with alarm by Ankara, which considers the YPG to be the Syrian branch of the PKK, which is a designated terrorist organisation in Turkey, the US and the EU.
Turkey’s biggest security concern is the YPG carving out an autonomous territory near its southeastern border.

The US supports the SDF, a YPG-dominated group it founded in 2015, in northeast Syria. Afrin, on the northwest, has no such support from the US but a couple hundred of Russian soldiers are based in the region.

TRT World has the latest on the operation:

CROATIAN CYCLIST DURASEK WINS TOUR OF TURKEY

Croatian cyclist Kristijan Durasek has won Sunday the 51st Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey.

Durasek, racing for Lampre-Merida, completed the tour in 31 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds.

Spanish cyclist Lluis Guillermo Mas Bonet of the Caja Rural – Seguros RGA team claimed victory in the eighth and final stage of the tour held in Istanbul.

The 26-year-old racer Bonet won the 124-kilometer stage in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 3 seconds, beating British cyclist Mark Cavendish and Spanish racer Carlos Barbero Cuesta at the finish line by a hair's length.

CREDIT GROWTH IN TURKEY AT TARGETED LEVELS

Measures aimed at curbing demand for consumer loans moves credit volume growth to desired levels, Minister says

Turkey's economy administration is pleased with the trend of subdued growth in consumer loans in the last 18 months, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has said.

Speaking to the General Assembly of Banks Association of Turkey, Babacan said on Thursday that the slowing growth in consumer loans was much needed to address the chronic current account deficit problem in Turkey.

Babacan said: "The trends in the last one-and-a-half year are quite healthy in terms of loans especially. Consumer loans are not increasing as rapidly as in the previous term.

"The growth rate of commercial loans is reasonable and loans for SMEs continue to rise fast, this is very important. Our goals set at the beginning of last year were actualized."

Last year, the Central bank of Turkey and Banking watchdog introduced measures to curb the demand for consumer loans used largely for the personal consumption of imported goods, as the current account deficit posed a risk to the Turkish economy.

Babacan explained that there is direct correlation between loan volume and the current account deficit, and that current account deficit growth keeps pace with loan growth.

Babacan said: "If a credit is received for an investment, for SMEs, we clearly see the current account deficit sourced from this loan is temporary, as returns expected from this investment and additional exports would offset its share of current account deficit through exports.

"But the use of such loans, for financing imported goods targeted for consumers, is not healthy for the economy and should be regulated."

AA