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Turkey ‘won’t let’ Azaz, Syria, fall to Kurdish militia, shells YPG targets for 3rd day
RT,
15
February, 2016
Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said on Monday Ankara will not allow
the town of Azaz in northern Syria to fall to the Kurdish YPG forces
and promised the "harshest reaction," if the group attempts
to re-take the city.
Trends
"YPG
elements were forced away from around Azaz. If they approach again
they will see the harshest reaction. We will not allow Azaz to fall,"
Davutoglu told reporters aboard his plane bound for Ukraine, Reuters
reported.
He
said the Turkish military would render Syria’s Menagh air base
"unusable" if YPG forces do not retreat from the area,
which they previously captured from Islamist militants. He warned the
YPG not to move east of its Afrin region or west of the Euphrates
River.
Turkish
security forces hit Kurdish militia targets in Syria for the third
day in a row Monday. A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said the
strikes came after a border security outpost was attacked in the
morning.
"Today
our border security outpost in the Hatay area at the Syrian border
was attacked. Retaliation shots were fired in return," spokesman
Tanju Bilgic told reporters.
News
has also come in that missiles hit a children’s hospital, a school
and other locations in Azaz, killing more than 14 people, according
to a medic and two residents who were cited by Reuters. Speaking at a
press conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Davutoglu claimed that a “Russian
ballistic missile launched from the Caspian Sea” hit both the
school and the hospital.
Meanwhile,
a Turkish security official speaking with Reuters said seven Russian
missiles struck a hospital.
The
Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that Turkish
strikes on Syrian territory breach the UN Security Council’s
resolution, and called on Ankara to cease immediately the ongoing
"military provocations."
“Starting
February 13, Turkish artillery amassed on the border with Syria is
hitting on a massive scale the Syrian residential areas recently
freed from the terrorists by government and Kurdish forces,” the
Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement said. "There are multiple
reports of people killed and injured among the civilians; the
infrastructure and residential buildings have been destroyed."
"In
the meantime, according to incoming information, the Turkish side
continues to indulge an unlawful infiltration of fresh armed jihadi
and mercenary groups into Syria, set to reinforce Jabhat Al-Nusra,
Islamic State and other terrorist groups’ units who suffered
casualties in the battle."
Kurdish
YPG militia and moderate units of the Free Syrian Army re-took the
town of Azaz earlier in February, previously held by Al-Nusra Front
militants.
On
Saturday, the Turkish Army launched a massive shelling attack on
Kurdish targets near the city of Azaz in northwest Syria, including
an air base recently retaken from Islamist rebels. It also hit Syrian
forces across the border, according to media reports.
Speaking
on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu threatened Syrian
Kurds with military action, saying that if there is a threat to
Turkey, “we will strike the PYD [Kurdish Democratic Union Party]
like we did Qandil,” referring to a violent bombing campaign waged
by Turkey against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in its Qandil
mountain stronghold in northern Iraq.
Later
in the day, the Syrian government sent an official letter to the UN,
strongly condemning Turkish actions and describing it as supporting
terrorist groups.
“In
addition, Turkish artillery bombarded the towns of Maraanaz,
al-Malikiyah, Minagh, Ain Dakna and Bazi Bagh, which are home to the
civilian population,” the complaint addressed to the UN Secretary
General and the UN Security Council said.
The
letter added that 12 trucks mounted with heavy machine guns and
carrying around 100 fighters entered Syrian territory from Turkey
through the Bab al-Salam checkpoint on Saturday. The claim was later
denied by the Turkish government.
“It’s
an absolutely unacceptable situation – what’s going on there on
the Turkish-Syrian border. Syria complained to the Security Council,
and provided all the materials on this issue. We will definitely
support raising this issue in the Security Council,” Russian
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RT on Monday.
“The
international community and the global media is so concerned about
the humanitarian situation in Syria, about accusing Russia in doing
this or that and they paid no attention toward what’s going on not
far from or just on the Turkish-Syrian border and what Turks are
doing there and the humanitarian situation there - it’s a
disaster.”
Washington
and Paris have called on Turkey to cease its massive artillery
bombardment against Kurdish targets and de-escalate tensions on all
sides.
“We
are concerned about the situation north of Aleppo and are working to
de-escalate tensions on all sides,” State Department spokesman John
Kirby said in a statement. “We have also seen reports of artillery
fire from the Turkish side of the border and urged Turkey to cease
such fire.”
RT
Referring
to comments from US State Department spokesman John Kirby, Turkish
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said Ankara is "shocked"
by remarks from Washington that put Turkey in the same basket as the
Kurdish YPG group. Kirby urged both Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to
focus on tackling a "common threat" from Islamic State
militants.
Bilgic
added Turkey will not seek permission to fight against "any
terrorist organizations."
The
French Foreign Ministry also urged Turkey to halt the artillery
strikes on Kurdish areas in Syria.
"France
is worried about the deteriorating situation in the region of Aleppo
and the north of Syria. We call for the cessation of all
bombardments, those of the regime and its allies on the entire
territory and those of Turkey in the Kurdish zones," Paris said
in a statement.
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