“Ignoring the remarks of Ambassador Bass, Erdogan has challenged the U.S. position on the PYD, and following Erdogan’s remarks USA officials in Washington have expressed their position in a stronger tone, underscoring that their support for the PYD will continue”, the article read.
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An intervention by Turkey and Saudi Arabia in Syria, two countries supporting the rebels, is clearly seen with suspicion by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad this week which accused both countries of supporting “terrorism “.
He pointed out that the air base was captured by the PYD-allied Syria Democratic Forces, which includes Arabs and Turkmens alongside the YPG militia.
Rebel commanders say YPG fighters are now in parts of Azaz just six kilometers from the border with Turkey.
The army hit Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets around the Syrian town of Azaz using howitzers stationed on the Turkish side of the border, Anatolia news agency reported.
Syrian Kurds are actively engaged in the fight against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group and have been recently described as “some of the most successful” forces fighting IS jihadists in Syria by US State Department spokesman John Kirby, AFP reports.
France joined that call on Sunday, with its foreign ministry urging “an immediate halt to the bombing, both that of the regime and its allies throughout the country and that of Turkey in the Kurdish zones”.
Turkish troops have shelled areas under the control of Syria’s main Kurdish faction, the People’s Protection Units, known as YPG, in the past.
Assad, backed on the ground by Iranian combatants and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in addition to big power ally Russian Federation, is showing no appetite for a negotiated ceasefire. But he did confirm Saudi Arabia would be sening an undisclosed number of warplanes to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air base at Incirlik in Adana near the Syrian border in southern Turkey.
Saudi Arabia had already said this month it was ready to join any ground operation against IS. Four F-16 fighters are expected to arrive in a first wave.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also appeared to confirm the strikes against the PYD, without giving precise details.
“When there is any threat to Turkey, we will take in Syria the measures that we took in Iraq and in Qandil and will not hesitate to implement the necessary measures”, Davutoglu said in a speech in the eastern Turkish city of Erzincan.
Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, was skeptical about how Russian Federation would behave in the days and weeks ahead, despite agreeing to a cessation of hostilities.
Davutoglu earlier condemned the attacks in Aleppo as “barbarity, tyranny, a war strategy conducted with a medieval mentality” and said hundreds of thousands faced the danger of starvation if a humanitarian corridor was not opened.
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“In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russian Federation playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria”, the White House said in a statement.
