The Turkish military on Saturday hit targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Syrian regime in two separate incidents in response to incoming fire, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. In line with the rules of engagement, the armed forces shelled targets of the PYD around the town of Azaz in Aleppo province, Anatolia said, quoting a military source. The army also responded to Syrian regime fire on a Turkish military guard post in Turkey's southern Hatay region, it added. There were no further details on the nature of the Turkish strikes but they likely involved artillery fire from tanks. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also appeared to confirm the strikes against the PYD, without giving precise details. "Under the framework of the rules of engagement, we responded to forces in Azaz and around that were posing a threat," he said, quoted by Anatolia while on a visit to the eastern city of Erzincan. Apparently referring to the PYD, he called these forces "a terror group which is a branch of the Syrian regime, collaborationist and... complicit in Russian strikes against civilians." Davutoglu said he had also spoken by telephone to US Vice President Joe Biden, telling him the PYD was a "threat" against which "we can take all kind of measures". He also said the PYD's People's Protection Units (YPG) militia should "immediately" leave Azaz and its surrounding area.
