The difference in views is underlined by President Erdoğan’s insistence that the YPG be excluded from the cease-fire and the US’s call to Turkey to stop the cross-border shelling of the YPG.
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Last week, the government had identified the bomber as Syrian national Salih Naccar.
The United States and Russian Federation announced on February 22 that they had reached a deal for a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria, which would begin on February 27.
De Mistura spoke to reporters Thursday in Geneva.
It does not cover the Islamic State group, Syria’s al-Qaida branch known as the Nusra Front, or any other militia designated as a terrorist group by the U.N. Security Council.
The draft resolution also expresses support for an worldwide working group meant to “accelerate the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid”, with the goal of sustained and unimpeded aid access to all parts of Syria.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey has grown increasingly frustrated by the global response to Syria´s five-year-old war, incensed by a Russian intervention which has tipped the balance of power in favour of Ankara´s arch-enemy Assad and by USA support for a Kurdish militia it sees as a hostile insurgent force.
Russia’s government-funded RT television said, “If the Kurdish YPG fighters have been armed with Javelin anti-tank missiles by Washington, it is a move that will not go down well with Turkey”.
While Turkey consider them as terrorist organizations the USA sees them an important partner in the fight against ISIL.
Though the U.S. would prefer not to allow Assad to remain in his position, it would be better than the current war, he said. The “cessation of hostilities” agreement is due to take effect at midnight (2200 GMT on Friday). The capture of Azaz, an area historically populated by Syrian Arabs and Turkoma, would also bridge Kurdish strongholds in Syria’s northeast and its isolated enclave in and around the city of Afrin, to the West.
Turkey’s presidential spokesman on Saturday outlined the country’s opposition to PKK-linked terror groups gaining control of territory in northern Syria.
Assad said the proposals stated in the agreement were an important step in the direction of a political settlement.
However, there were still open questions on how the truce would be implemented and monitored, and which groups among the various rebel factions would agree to cooperate.
Saudi jets today arrived at a Turkish base to join the air campaign against Islamic State jihadists in Syria only hours before a ceasefire is to take force, local media reported.
In the latest operations, conducted in the Idil district of Sirnak province near the borders with Syria and Iraq, security forces killed 20 PKK militants, the army said on Thursday.
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Speaking at Anadolu Agency’s Editor’s Desk, Çavuşoğlu said that the main goal in Syria should be to ensure the country’s territorial integrity rather than giving it to a single entity.
