Syria truce ‘not binding’ for Turkey if security threatened: PM

Mr Erdogan said Turkey welcomed the Syria ceasefire as “positive in principle”. and said: “We support a ceasefire that will help our Syrian brothers breathe”.

“Overnight from February 27 to 28 the Russian center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria received information about an attack from Turkish territory on the Syrian town of Tal Abyad by armed units using large-scale artillery”, said the chief of the center, Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko.

Direct talks between the opposition and the government will be held “whenever the opposition is able to get together and be at the table, ” she said, adding that while the government is ready for dialogue, their opponents have so far failed to even agree on their own delegation. Islamic State is not included in the “cessation of hostilities” agreement.

The group has also been regarded by the U.S.as an ally operating on the ground in the fight against Daesh.

While IS control over territory is relatively clear and stable, Al-Nusra works closely with many other rebels groups, particularly in the north.

Turkey has said it is not bound by the ceasefire deal if its national security was threatened.

“The regime and Russian Federation did not respect the decisions taken before”, Cavusoglu said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu yesterday said: “We have since the beginning argued for the necessity of ground operations and all kinds of strategic moves to be carried out in addition to the air campaign”.

Turkey has in the past few weeks been shelling the group known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, in northern Syria.

Turkey says the Kurdish targets it hits pose a threat to its security.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey Turkish military helicopters killed 12 Kurdish militants in strikes near the southeastern border with Syria on Wednesday, security sources said, in a conflict becoming increasingly intertwined with developments in Turkey’s war-torn neighbour.

The victory is key for Syria’s military access to the provincial capital, Aleppo city.

But the rise of the Islamic State group, which has seized large parts of the war-torn country, has led the Kurds to become implicated in several battles against the jihadists.

“If this is a ceasefire that is up to the mercy of Russian Federation, which has brutally attacked the moderate opposition and aligned with Assad under the pretext of fighting Islamic State, we fear that the fire pouring over the innocent people will never stop”, Erdogan said. IS seized Khanaser and surrounding hills on Tuesday, cutting the government’s main land route to the city. A top military official says Russian Federation has halted all airstrikes in areas of Syria where armed groups, including government forces, said they would abide by a cease-fire.

The advance comes ahead of a cease-fire meant to start on midnight Friday.