Ankara confirms Turkish shelling of YPG forces in Syria for third day

Turkish officials have confirmed that its armed forces shelled positions of the military wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria for a third straight day on Feb. 15, saying the move was retaliation against the PYD's military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG).

"As a result of artillery fire and harassment from Syria toward our country since Saturday [Feb. 13], we have operated [in accordance to] our engagement rules. On Saturday, Sunday and today, we have responded within the framework of our rules of engagement with retaliation in kind," Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç told reporters on Feb. 15. 

"Today, a response to an attack against a border outpost in the [southeastern] Hatay region was [been] given as retaliation in kind," Bilgiç elaborated.

Turkey's army shelled targets of the YPG, which Ankara regards a terrorist organization and the extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in northern Syria over the weekend, after the group seized an air base north of Aleppo, further complicating the conflict on NATO-member Turkey's southern border.

Ankara 'shocked' by US comments putting YPG and Turkey in same basket

Turkey is "shocked" by recent remarks from the U.S. State Department that put Ankara in the same basket as the People's Protection Units (YPG), the military arm of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said on Feb. 15. 

Bilgiç was referring to comments from U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby, who urged both Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to focus on tackling the "common threat" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which controls large parts of Syria.