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Turkey Faces Calls for Restraint in Syria Offensive

Dorian Jones

   ISTANBUL - Turkey is facing calls for restraint by its Western allies
   as well as Russia and Iran after Ankara's forces launched a military
   offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia Wednesday.

   "[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan cannot step back. He was
   under so much public pressure," said Huseyin Bagci, an international
   relations professor with Ankara's Middle East Technical University. "He
   could not postpone this [operation]. He has put his credibility on the
   line with this operation."

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