PRESS RELEASE

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No International Support for Turkish Cross-Border Shelling into Syria; Biden Called Prime Minister Davutoglu To Stop It

Feb. 15, 2016 (EIRNS)—Turkey is not getting much support internationally for its recent cross-border shelling into Syria, shelling that’s targeting the Kurdish YPG militias, which are allied to the U.S. in the war against ISIS. Vice President Joe Biden called Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday to tell the Turks to stop it.

"The Vice President noted U.S. efforts to discourage Syrian Kurdish forces from exploiting current circumstances to seize additional territory near the Turkish border, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area,"

a White House statement said, yesterday, noting that Biden emphasized the imperative for de-escalation in the area.

The French Foreign Ministry expressed similar concern.

"France is worried about the deteriorating situation in the region of Aleppo and the north of Syria. We call for the cessation of all bombardments, those of the regime and its allies on the entire territory and those of Turkey in the Kurdish zones,"

the ministry said in a statement.

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said this morning that

"only a few days ago, all of us including Turkey, sitting around the table decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities."

She said more fighting "is obviously not what we expect."