Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a speech at a meeting with AKP provincial leaders, indirectly acknowledging that the military invasion of Afrin was unsuccessful: "God willing, from now on we expect a  faster progress in the operation."

He explained the recent failures with the weather:" The weather is also bad. Sometimes there is snow, storm and fog. Despite snow and storm, our soldiers continue on their way in this fight. "

In his speech, the Turkish President further indicated that so far the operation had not come to the desired results. Therefore, there is a need for a new strategy: "After we besiege the city center of Afrin as soon as possible and thus cut off the contact of the terrorists to the outside, we will continue the operation with a new strategy."

The claim that the weather conditions are bad does not correspond to reality. In Afrin it is mostly sunny with occasional rain. Snowfall and storms are not recorded. The air temperature is between 13 and 19 degrees.