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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Turkey is vowing to protect a town occupied by al-Qaida from falling to Kurdish fighters.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Turkey said Tuesday it wanted to invade Syria to stop Kurdish militias from consolidating control of a key border town.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Turkish forces could soon seize control of the Syrian town of Azaz and surrounding areas, according to Deputy Prime Minister Talcin Akdogan.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>“What we want is to create a secure strip, including Azaz, 10 kilometers deep inside Syria and this zone should be free from clashes,” Akdogan said, according to Reuters.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The suggestion was spurred as the Kurdish militia, the YPG was posed to take control of Azaz. Turkey's state news agency Anadolu Agency paraphrased Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as stating the YPG's offensive at Azaz was part of Kurdish “attempts … to destroy the moderate opposition in Syria and close the corridor between Aleppo and Turkey.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The so called “moderate” opposition that currently occupy Azaz include the Al Nusra Front – Al Qaida's Syrian affiliate, financed and armed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Nusra has managed the town under a power sharing deal with the Western backed Free Syrian Army, along with a handful of small Islamist groups.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>ANALYSIS: Silencing a People: How Turkey is Depriving Kurds of a Voice <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>On Monday, Davutoglu said, “We will not allow the fall of Azaz.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>“This must be clear to all in the world,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Days earlier, Turkey began pounding YPG sites across northern Syria.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Turkey opposes the YPG's ambitions to create an independent Kurdish state in northern Syria. Across the border, another Kurdish militia, the PKK, waged a decades long insurgency against the Turkish state. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: <br> <a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Syria-Turkey-to-Save-Al-Qaida-Stronghold-from-Kurdish-YPG-20160217-0020.html"><span style='color:blue'>"http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Syria-Turkey-to-Save-Al-Qaida-Stronghold-from-Kurdish-YPG-20160217-0020.html"</span></a>. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>