In Paris, thousands of people marched Saturday to protest Turkey’s military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin. This is protester Nursel Kilic.

Nursel Kilic: “The Turkish state has become an invading power, because it is occupying the territory, one that is foreign to Turkey. They crossed the border. This territory is not only an autonomous Kurdish town, but at the same time it is officially Syrian territory. So it’s an occupying force which is in Afrin. And what Turkey is trying to do right now is to eradicate a whole population, but not only, a democratic and autonomous system, a new secular society model which is starting to sprout in the very heart of the Middle East, and especially in Afrin.”

The protests in Paris came as the Turkish military says it has taken full control of the city of Afrin.