Within the framework of the negotiations between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Assad regime, the PKK terror group is desperately seeking a deal to secure Tal Rifaat for its logistics activities, as the Assad regime guarantees the transfer of the weapons, ammunition and terrorists sent by the U.S. to Afrin, where Turkey is currently conducting Operation Olive Branch.

Operation Olive Branch was initiated on Jan. 20 in Afrin to establish security and stability, eliminate terrorists of PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh, and save locals from the terrorists’ oppression and cruelty.

While the PKK is easily able to transfer ammunition from the Assad-controlled districts of Nubbol and al-Zahraa to Afrin, it can’t complete any transfers from Tal Rifaat, which is in its control, as Turkey won’t allow such transfers to be carried out from the region as military jets of the TAF don’t hesitate to strike in the case of any terrorist mobility.

The U.S has supplied the PYD terror organization with more than 5,000 truckloads of weapons to allegedly use in the fight against Daesh, despite Ankara’s warnings that the group is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror organization.

Turkey’s Tal Rifaat perspective

As Operation Olive Branch enters its second month, Turkey and Russia have no dispute regarding the activities carried out by the TAF and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear Afrin of terrorist elements.

Turkey, which has been observing Tel Rifaat, the southern currently being occupied by the Assad regime along with Russian soldiers who retreated from Afrin, occasionally carries out aerial bombardments over the skies of Tel Rifaat. It hasn’t yet conducted a ground operation in this region. A Tal Rifaat operation is expected to commence once Afrin’s city center is cleared of PKK terrorists.

Kalın denies claims of Assad-PKK agreements on Afrin

As for the claims regarding a so-called agreement between the PKK and Assad regime regarding the deployment of regime to Afrin, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın shared a tweet on Feb. 20, 2018 saying, "It is clear that the news of the agreement between [Syrian] regime and the PYD/YPG is propaganda. However, this does not mean that there were no secret or dirty negotiations. Regardless of who does what, Operation Olive Branch will continue as planned and reach its aims," Kalın tweeted on Tuesday.

Syrian civilians call on Turkey to liberate Tal Rifaat

Syrian civilians who have been forcefully displaced from their home town of Tel Rifaat to Azaz by the PYD/PKK terrorist group rallied on Tuesday to show support for Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch.

While almost 2,000 internally displaced people in Azaz took part in the rally, a protester nick-named Abu Ali said, "We are here to support the Turkish military and the FSA and to demand the return of 250,000 civilians displaced from Tel Rifaat by the PKK. For two years, we have lived in tents that don’t protect us from the summer sun and cold winter weather. We call on [Turkish President] Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish army and the FSA to open a front to liberate Tel Rifaat so that we can return to our homes.”

Syrians in Afrin show support for Turkish army campaign Syrian civilians forced to flee Afrin’s Tel Rifaat district to the nearby town of Azaz by the PYD/PKK terrorist group rallied on Tuesday to show support for a Turkish military operation that remains underway in northern Syria.Turkey began its Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 with the aim of clearing PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh terrorists from Syria’s northwestern Afrin district.Around 250,000 Syrian civilians who fled their homes in 2016 still await the elimination of the PYD/PKK presence so that they might return to their homes.The eastern part of Afrin is comprised of two districts: Tel Rifaat (currently occupied by the PYD/PKK) and Azaz (which is held by Syrian opposition forces that also control the Idlib province).Nearly 2,000 internally displaced persons in Azaz took part in Tuesday’s rally to show support for the ongoing Turkish operation, which is being carried out in coordination with the Free Syrian Army (FSA)."We are here to support the Turkish military and the FSA and to demand the return of 250,000 civilians displaced from Tel Rifaat by the PKK," protester Abu Ali (not his real name) told Anadolu Agency."For two years, we have lived in tents that don’t protect us from the summer sun and cold winter weather,” Abu Ali lamented.“We call on [Turkish President] Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish army and the FSA to open a front to liberate Tel Rifaat so that we can return to our homes,” he added.Omar al-Sin, another protester, also expressed support for Operation Olive Branch, which he hopes will eventually allow him to return to Tel Rifaat."We have been driven from our land by Russia-backed PKK attacks and terror,” al-Sin said. “We support the FSA and the Turkish troops who are working to reunite us with our homes.”Afrin has remained a PYD/PKK stronghold since July 2012, when the Syrian regime left the city to the terrorist group without a fight.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.

In the wide-ranging Euphrates Shield Operation launched in August 2016, the Free Syrian Army -- with the support of the Turkish army -- had cleared 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) of land along the Turkish-Syrian border of terrorist elements.