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Davutoglu confirms Turkish retaliation to shelling

13 February 2016 22:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkey’s prime minister on Saturday confirmed Turkish troops shelled Kurdish positions in Syria in retaliation, APA reports quoting Anadolu agency.

Ahmet Davutoglu said the army returned artillery fire after coming under attack from Democratic Union Party (PYD) forces based around Azaz in northern Syria.

He stressed that the response was within Turkey’s rules of engagement.

Earlier, a military source told Anadolu Agency the Akcabaglar base in Kilis province was shelled by “PYD/PKK” forces -- referring to the Syrian Kurdish group and its affiliate PKK, which has waged war on Turkey since 1984. Ankara considers both as terrorist groups.

Azaz in Aleppo province has been the scene of recent heavy fighting and the PYD’s armed wing, the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), have advanced to Azaz -- just 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Turkish border.

Davutoglu demanded the YPG withdraw from Azaz and the nearby Menagh military air base and warned the group against using either as a base to attack Turkey or Syrian opposition forces.

Speaking in Erzincan, northeast Turkey, Davutoglu said Aleppo, Syria’s second biggest city, had been under siege since last week, when the humanitarian aid corridor between Turkey and the city was cut off by a Russian-backed government offensive.

In an apparent reference to Russia, he said “forces using the PYD” had sought to cause a “massive refugee influx” towards Turkey. He added that Ankara was ready to take further measures to defend its borders.