IS fighters attack Syrian border town

The next day, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed a Syrian Kurdish YPG militia fighter working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey for the attack, naming him as Salih Necar, born in 1992, and from the Hasakah region of northern Syria.

“What Ankara opposes is a PKK-led political entity and terror state that is now being sought out in northern Syria thanks to the misplaced support of the U.S., Russian Federation and the [Bashar al-] Assad regime”, Ibrahim Kalin said in his weekly column in the Daily Sabah newspaper.

It sees both as offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies.

As reported in Al-Jazeera, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was concerned that the US-Russian plan may take advantage for government forces and their backers while being indecisive on the terms for the Syrian opposition.

Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group and fears it will further stoke unrest among its own Kurdish population.

A ceasefire between the PKK and the state collapsed in July and since then Turkey’s security forces have killed hundreds of PKK members, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians in the process.

“The Russian Federation has completely stopped attacks in the “green zone”, that is to say those areas and armed units that have sent to us requests for cease-fire”, Maj.

Hijab said there has been 24 cases of shelling and five cases of ground attacks.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide truck bombing in central Syria.

Kalin also echoed Davutoglu’s remarks, saying: “Turkey will use its rights originating from global law and apply the rules of engagement to protect its national security – if necessary – no matter from which part of Syria or from which terrorist group the threat comes”.

Russian Federation strikes ISIS targets in Syria from Submarine in Mediterranean sea for the 1st time.

Germany has declared Syrian and Iraqi passports issued in territory controlled by the Islamic State group invalid.

“We support this ceasefire in principle, but unfortunately we have serious concerns about the future of this ceasefire as the fighting goes on”, Kalin told a news conference.

A top aide to Turkey’s president says Saudi military aircraft that will join the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria have begun arriving at an air base in southern Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu confirmed the deployment of Saudi planes to the base on February 13.

It was not immediately clear if the warplanes struck areas controlled by al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, known as the Nusra Front.