Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Turkey Begins Offensive Against Kurds in Northern Syria VOA News WASHINGTON - National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin and VOA's Kurdish and Turkish Services contributed to this report. The United Nations Security Council is set to meet Thursday to discuss the military operation in northeastern Syria that Turkey says is a "measured and responsible" anti-terror operation, while the mainly Kurdish fighters in the region appeal for help to "save our people from genocide." Turkey launched its long-planned operation Wednesday aimed at taking out the Kurdish forces it sees as terrorists, but which most of the West views as key partners in the fight against Islamic State militants. Turkish forces began with airstrikes and later sent in ground troops, with the country's defense ministry claiming it "hit 181 targets." Mustefa Bali, spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said the group's fighters had repelled a ground attack by Turkish forces in the Tal Abyad region. "No advance as of now," Bali wrote on Twitter. Ahead of the U.N. Security Council meeting, Reuters quoted a letter sent to the council by Turkey's U.N. Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu saying the operation "will only target terrorists and their hideouts, shelters, emplacements, weapons vehicles and equipment." The Turkish Defense Ministry said the offensive is being undertaken in line with Security Council resolutions and international law provisions allowing Turkey a "right of self defense." In a Washington Post op-ed published late Wednesday, Hemin Kobane, the SDF's liason with the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, accused the United States of casting aside the Kurds and "leaving them to their fates at the hands of their mortal enemies." Kobane cited the years of cooperation between U.S. and SDF forces in taking back territory from Islamic State, calling U.S. forces "our friends and brothers" against a common enemy. "We hoped that the stability and freedom of the area under our control would offer a strategic stronghold for the future of the entire region. Our fellowship was a light of hope for the citizens of all of Syria. Unfortunately, yet once more, our foes in the region are conspiring to destroy our people." A Syrian Democratic Forces tweet Thursday thanked a number of governments for "acting with honor" toward the people of northeastern Syria, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Britain, France and Germany. The United States was not included. We are grateful to Arab governments for acting with honor towards people of NE [1]#Syria in this difficult times [2]#KSA, [3]#UAE, [4]#Bahrain [5]#Jordan, [6]#Egypt, [7]#Lebanon, [8]#Libya, [9]#Kuwait and [10]#Iraq , as well as westerners governments [11]#UK, [12]#France, [13]#Netherlands, [14]#Canada [15]#Germany. -- Coordination & Military Ops Center - SDF (@cmoc_sdf) [16]October 9, 2019 White House reaction The Turkish military operation began days after a surprise and widely criticized White House announcement that U.S. forces would withdraw from the region. President Donald Trump said in a statement Wednesday the United States "does not endorse this attack" and made it clear to Turkey the operation is a "bad idea." "Turkey has committed to protecting civilians, protecting religious minorities, including Christians, and ensuring no humanitarian crisis takes place -- and we will hold them to this commitment," his statement said. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied that the United States had given Turkey a green light for the invasion. He told the public broadcast news program PBS NewHour that after talking to Erdogan, "it became very clear that there were American soldiers that were going to be at risk and the president made a decision to put them in a place where they were out of harm's way." Airstrikes Turkish airstrikes hit the town of Ras al-Ayn on the Syrian side of the border, local activists said. Smoke could be seen rising from area. The SDF said Turkish warplanes were hitting civilian areas with airstrikes, causing huge panic. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 15 people, including eight civilians, had been killed in the airstrikes. More than 40 other people had been wounded, according to the Britain-based monitoring group, which has a network of sources across Syria. References 1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 2. https://twitter.com/hashtag/KSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 3. https://twitter.com/hashtag/UAE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 4. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bahrain?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 5. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jordan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 6. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Egypt?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 7. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lebanon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 8. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Libya?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 9. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kuwait?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 10. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iraq?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 11. https://twitter.com/hashtag/UK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 12. https://twitter.com/hashtag/France?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 13. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Netherlands?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 14. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canada?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 15. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Germany?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 16. https://twitter.com/cmoc_sdf/status/1182074023670435841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw .