(CNN) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Sunday that Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel fighter allies have seized control of the town center of Afrin from Kurdish YPG fighters.

Erdogan said Turkish soldiers, along with rebel factions of the Free Syrian Army, took complete control of Afrin town center at 8.30 a.m.

He said mopping operations are underway and the Turkish flag has been raised in the town that sits less than 50 kilometers from the Turkish border.

The President, speaking in Canakkale, made the announcement even as opposition forces in Afrin remained defiant.

"Most of the terrorists fled already," Erdogan said. "Our special forces and Free Syrian Army are clearing the remaining few terrorists and the mines that they might have left. In the center of Afrin, the symbols of peace and security are flying, not the rags of a terror organization. Now the Turkish flag is flying there. The FSA flag is flying there."

Read More