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Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has again vowed that Turkey will not allow for Syria's Azaz district, in the countryside north of Aleppo, to fall to the forces of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). 

"We will not let Azaz fall," said Davuto?lu on Feb. 15 en route to Kyiv for a one-day official visit, according to Reuters. 

The United States has reiterated that it does not perceive the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as a terrorist organization, while adding that it understands ally Turkey's concerns regarding the organization, a few days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an asked the U.S. to either support Ankara or the PYD.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has denounced a senior U.S. official's visit to Kurdish-controlled northern Syria, underlining the "mistrust" the visit has created in Ankara over the nature of Turkey's "partnership" with the U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Feb. 13 condemned the "brutal and outrageous" execution-style murders of three Muslim students in North Carolina at the hands of a neighbor who espoused anti-religious views.

A cold wind blowing between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Barack Obama has been hindering direct communication between the two leaders for some time, Erdoğan has said.