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Turkey wants secure line made 10 km within Syria, including Azaz, Deputy PM says

February 17, 2016

Turkey wants secure line made 10 km within Syria, including Azaz, Deputy PM says

DAILY SABAH WITH REUTERS

Source: Turkey wants secure line made 10 km within Syria, including Azaz, Deputy PM says – Daily Sabah

Displaced Syrians fleeing areas in the northern embattled province of Aleppo, walk past tents at the Bab al-Salama camp, set up outside the Syrian city of Azaz on Syria’s northern border with Turkey (AFP Photo)

Turkey wants a secure strip of territory 10 km (6.2 miles) deep on the Syrian side of its border, including the town of Azaz, to prevent attempts to “change the demographic structure” of the area and for humanitarian purposes, Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan said on Wednesday.

Assad forces backed by Russian air strikes have advanced towards the Turkish border in a major offensive in recent weeks. YPG fighters, regarded by Ankara as terrorists, have taken advantage of the violence to seize territory from Syrian rebels.

Turkey has accused the YPG of pursuing “demographic change” in northern Syria by forcibly displacing Turkmen and Arab communities.

“There is a game being played with the aim of changing the demographic structure. Turkey should not be part of this game,” Akdoğan said in an interview on the AHaber television station.

“What we want is to create a secure strip, including Azaz, 10 km deep inside Syria and this zone should be free from clashes,” he said.

Azaz is the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey north of the Syrian city of Aleppo, part of what was, before the Assad offensive, a supply route from Turkey to the rebels fighting Assad.

It has come under heavy assault in recent days, but Turkey has said it will not let the town fall into the hands of the Kurdish YPG militia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had also said that she supports Ankara’s proposal for a no-fly zone in northern Syria.

Ankara has been requesting that the U.N. establish “safe zones” in Syria since 2012 but could not find the necessary international support.

Turkey, home to more than 2.6 million Syrian refugees, has long pushed for the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria to protect displaced civilians, avoiding the need to bring them into Turkey.

But the proposal has so far gained little traction with Washington or NATO allies who fear it would require an internationally patrolled no-fly zone which could put them in direct confrontation with Assad and his allies.

Akdoğan said another 600,000 people could flee to the Turkish border if Aleppo falls to the Syrian army.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Aleppo, Azaz, Isis, Islam, Islamic Jihad, Islamic slaughter, Islamic State, Jihad, Merkel, Middle East War, Russia, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey, USA, YPG

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Turkey vows ‘harsh reaction’ if Kurds try to take Syrian town

February 15, 2016

Turkey vows ‘harsh reaction’ if Kurds try to take Syrian town

February 15, 2016, Monday/ 12:05:44/ REUTERS | KIEV | ISTANBUL

Source: Turkey vows ‘harsh reaction’ if Kurds try to take Syrian town

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu speaks to reporters on his plane en route to Ukraine on Monday. (Photo: DHA)

Turkey will not allow the northern Syrian town of Azaz to fall into the hands of Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its fighters will face the “harshest reaction” if they approach it again, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Monday.

A major offensive supported by Russian bombing and Iranian-backed Shiite militias has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of the Turkish border. The YPG has exploited the situation, seizing ground from Syrian rebels to extend its presence along the Turkish border.

Turkey is infuriated by the expansion of Kurdish influence in northern Syria, fearing it will encourage separatist ambitions among its own Kurds. The YPG, which Ankara considers to be a terrorist group, controls nearly all of Syria’s frontier with Turkey.

Speaking to reporters on his plane en route to Ukraine, Davutoğlu said YPG fighters would have taken control of rebel-held Azaz and the town of Tal Rifaat further south had it not been for Turkish artillery firing at them over the weekend.

“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,” Davutoğlu said.

He said Turkey would make the Menagh air base north of the city of Aleppo “unusable” if the YPG, which seized it over the weekend from Syrian insurgents, did not withdraw. He warned the YPG not to move east of the Afrin region or west of the Euphrates River, long a “red line” for Ankara.

Azaz came under heavy fire again on Monday. At least 14 civilians were killed when missiles hit a children’s hospital, a school and other locations, a medic and two residents said.

Syria’s rebels, some backed by the United States, Turkey and their allies, say the YPG is fighting with the Syrian military against them in the five-year-old civil war. The YPG denies this.

Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Washington, which does not see the YPG as terrorists, supports the group in the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria.

NATO member Turkey is now at risk of being dragged ever deeper into the Syrian conflict. Turkish financial markets including the lira currency were weaker on Monday on fears about the situation.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Ahmet Davutoglu, Azaz, Islam, Islamic Jihad, Islamic slaughter, Islamic State, Middle East War, Russia, Syria, Turkey, USA, YPG

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Turkish military shells PYD targets in Syria

February 13, 2016

Turkish military shells PYD targets in Syria

February 13, 2016, Saturday/ 18:01:08/ REUTERS | BEIRUT

Source: Turkish military shells PYD targets in Syria

Turkey’s military has shelled Kurdish militia targets near the town of Azaz in northern Syria. (Photo: Today’s Zaman)

Turkey’s military has shelled Kurdish militia targets near the town of Azaz in northern Syria, a Turkish government source told Reuters on Saturday, without elaborating on the extent of the shelling or why it had been carried out.

“The Turkish Armed Forces fired shells at PYD positions in the Azaz area,” the source said, referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara regards as a terrorist organization.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the shelling had targeted a Syrian air base and a village captured from insurgents in recent days by the YPG militia, which is backed by the PYD.

A Kurdish official confirmed the shelling of northern Aleppo’s Menagh air base, which he said had been captured by the Kurdish-allied Jaysh al-Thuwwar group rather than the YPG. Both are part of the Syria Democratic Forces alliance.

News of the shelling came after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday Turkey would not hesitate to act in Syria if it faced a threat from Syrian Kurdish forces.

His comments reflected Ankara’s growing frustration with United States backing for the PYD, which controls most of the Syrian side of the border with Turkey and which Ankara views as tied to militants fighting an insurgency in southeast Turkey.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Azaz, Islam, Islamic State, Jihad, Middle East War, PYD, Syria, TSK, Turkey

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