Turkey continues shelling Kurdish regions in Syria: Group
Despite international outcries, Turkey has shelled Kurdish regions in northern Syria for the third day, saying it will not allow Kurds to take control of the Syrian border town of A’zaz.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that Turkish forces shelled a road to the Tal Rif'at town as well as a region near A’zaz. Turkey had targeted the same areas over the weekend.
"We will not let A’zaz fall," said Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu, adding, "The YPG (the Kurdish People's Protection Units) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates (River) and east of Afrin."
Ankara regards the YPG and its affiliate the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as an ally of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.
The YPG, which controls nearly Syria’s entire northern border with Turkey, has been fighting against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
Syria on Sunday condemned the Turkish attacks, and took the case to the UN Security Council. Turkey claims that Syrian Kurdish forces were advancing under the support of the Russian air force.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has also condemned Turkish attacks as “provocative.”
"Starting from February 13, Turkish artillery concentrated in border areas is carrying out massive strikes on Syrian towns recently freed from terrorists," the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said many civilians were killed and wounded in the Turkish attacks while infrastructure and a number of residential houses were destroyed.
The Russian ministry also expressed Moscow’s “serious concern” about what it calls Ankara’s aggressive actions against Syria and described it as “overt support of international terrorism."
Turkey is said to be among the main supporters of the militant groups operating in Syria, with reports saying that Ankara actively trains and arms the Takfiri terrorists there and facilitates their safe passage into the conflict-ridden Arab country.
Earlier, France and the US called on Turkey to halt its artillery bombardment of the Kurdish areas in Syria.
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