Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu has said that he will not allow Azaz, a town in northern Syria, to fall to Kurdish YPG forces.
"We will not let Azaz fall. The YPG (the People's Protection Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates [River] and east of Afrin," said Davutoglu on his plane en route to an official visit to Ukraine, reports Israel National News.
According to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, two fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces - a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters - have been killed and seven others wounded in shelling over the weekend, reports the Deccan Chronicle.
Davutoglu said on Feb. 13 that Turkish forces retaliated against a Kurdish faction "that presented a threat in Azaz and its environs," reports the Deccan Chronicle.
Davutoglu promised the "harshest reaction," if the YPG attempted to take the city. "YPG elements were forced away from around Azaz. If they approach again they will see the harshest reaction. We will not allow Azaz to fall," Davutoglu said, according to RT.
Davutoglu warned that Turkey would ensure that Syria's Menagh air base became "unusable" if the YPG forces did not retreat from areas around Azaz, reports The Daily Star.
