BEIRUT
(AP) -- Turkey shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia
in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, drawing condemnation from
the Syrian government, whose forces are advancing against insurgents in
the same area under the cover of Russian airstrikes.
Turkey's
state-run Anadolu Agency said Turkish artillery units fired at Kurdish
fighters in the Syrian town of Azaz in Aleppo province, saying it was in
response to incoming Kurdish fire.
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. The
group has been most effective in the fight against the Islamic State
group in Syria, but Ankara appears increasingly uneasy over the group's
recent gains in the country's north.
"Turkey
has responded in this manner in the past," said Turkey's Deputy Prime
Minister Yalcin Akdogan. "What is different is not that Turkey has
responded in such a way but the fact that there are different movements
in the region. The YPG crossing west of the Euphrates is Turkey's red
line."
The YPG is the main fighting force of
Syrian Kurds and a key ally of the U.S.-led coalition battling the
Islamic State group. Turkey, which is also in the alliance, considers it
an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a
decades-long insurgency against Ankara.
A
coalition of Kurdish-led Syrian fighters known as the Syrian Democratic
Forces recently seized a number of villages near Turkey's border. Ankara
appears concerned they could reach the opposition stronghold of Azaz,
which is home to a major border crossing that has been controlled by
militants since 2012.
Diplomats from a group
of countries that have interests in Syria's five-year civil war,
including the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, agreed on
Friday to seek a temporary "cessation of hostilities" within a week. But
the fighting on the ground, which has sent tens of thousands of people
fleeing toward the Turkish border where they continue to sleep in the
open air, has accelerated.
A top Syrian
opposition figure, former Prime Minister Riad Hijab, criticized Russia
on Sunday for continuing with its bombing in Syria, and also stopped
short of declaring a clear commitment to implement a planned temporary
truce.
"You ask me if I accept a cease-fire or
a cessation of hostilities. I ask you: Why is the onus on the
opposition and whether it has preconditions for negotiations?" Hijab
said. "I would like to see a single day of a cessation of hostilities in
order to give a chance for real political movement." He was addressing
the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of foreign and
security policy leaders.
Akdogan says Kurdish
gains in northern Syria - facilitated by a Russian-backed government
offensive in the same area - are also putting "unacceptable" pressure on
opposition-held areas in Aleppo and the nearby town of Tel Rifaat.
The
private Dogan news agency broadcast footage of Turkish howitzers
opening fire and shells raising plumes of smoke in Syria. It said the
army hit targets in the Mannagh air base and two villages, all
controlled by Syrian Kurdish fighters.
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group that monitors
the conflict, said two fighters from the SDF - a coalition of Kurdish
and Arab fighters - have been killed and seven others wounded in the
shelling. A Turkmen rebel commander, Zakariyya Karsli, told Anadolu
Agency Turkish shelling killed at least 29 Kurdish fighters.
Opposition
groups said Saturday that Turkish troops fired artillery shells that
targeted the Mannagh air base in Aleppo province, which was captured by
Kurdish fighters and their allies earlier this week.
Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said late Saturday that his country's
military fired at Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in response to a
provocation along the border.
The Syrian
government condemned Turkey's shelling of Syrian territory, describing
it as an attempt to raise the morale of "terrorist" groups it supports.
France
meanwhile called on Syria and Russia to halt their airstrikes and for
Turkey to stop shelling Kurdish areas. In a statement, it expressed
concern about the "deteriorating situation in Aleppo and northern
Syria."
Both the Kurds and Syrian troops have
advanced toward Azaz in separate offensives in the area. In addition to
sealing the Turkish border, Syrian troops are trying to encircle
rebel-held parts of Aleppo, Syria's largest city. If they are able to do
so, it will be the biggest defeat for insurgents since the conflict
began in March 2011.
The Observatory and the
Lebanon-based A-Mayadeen TV said at least 350 Turkey-backed armed rebels
crossed into Syria from Turkey Sunday to shore up rebels fighting Kurds
near Tel Rifaat.
Also on Sunday, Iran's air
defense chief said his country is ready to help defend Syria's airspace,
marking the first time Iran has offered to assist with Syrian air
defenses.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency
quoted Gen. Farzad Esmaili as saying "we will help Syria in a
full-fledged manner if the Syrian government requests help." He said any
such aid would be provided in an "advisory" capacity.
Iran
is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has sent weapons,
money and military advisers to Syria to help bolster his forces.
Esmaili's
remarks came after Turkey and Saudi Arabia -- leading supporters of the
rebels battling to topple Assad -- said they were open to sending
ground troops into Syria to battle the Islamic State group. Turkey's
foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also said Saturday that Saudi Arabia
is "ready to send both jets and troops" to Turkey's Incirlik air base.
Fighting
and airstrikes continued elsewhere in the country Sunday, including in
rebel-held suburbs of the capital Damascus. Opposition activists
reported Syrian army helicopters dropped around 10 barrel bombs on the
town of Daraya. There was no immediate word on casualties.
