Turkish soldiers are seen around the area of Mount Bersaya, north of the Syrian town of Azaz near the border with Turkey. PHOTO: AFP
"We announce a general mobilisation and we invite... our people to defend Afrin," the Kurdish enclave's autonomous administration said in a statement.
Its spokesman Rezan Hedo told AFP: "It is an invitation for all Kurds in Syria to take up arms."
Turkey steps up assault on Kurdish militia in Syria
He said the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), was "ready to receive all those who wish to defend Afrin and provide them with weapons".
The statement called on the international community to assume its "moral responsibility" and urged the UN Security Council to adopt "a firm and serious resolution preventing the Turkish government's aggression on Afrin".
Afrin is one of three autonomous cantons set up in areas under Kurdish control.
The other two -- Euphrates and Jazira -- are in the main contiguous area of Kurdish control further east.
Turkey says campaign against Kurdish YPG in Afrin will be swift
Ankara announced the launch of its Operation Olive Branch on Saturday after months of threatening to invade the Afrin enclave to dislodge the YPG.
It sees the militia as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a bloody insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.
But the operation is hugely sensitive as Washington relied on the YPG to oust the Islamic State group from its strongholds in Syria and the Kurdish militia now holds much of the north.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis urged Turkey on Tuesday to "exercise restraint in the military action and the rhetoric".
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ