Turkey shot down Russian bomber over Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attacked Kurds in neighboring Syria in order to win popular support at home and because he was wary about the gains they had been making against anti-government groups, according to Selma Irmak, a Turkish parliament deputy from the Democratic Party of Peoples (DPN).

“The most important reason is Rodzhava (Syrian Kurdistan) and the success the Kurds have reached there. Turkey saw that the Kurds are creating their own democratic government in Syrian Kurdistan. When there was a war in Kobán, all the Kurds united with each other. Such an association of Kurds is interfering with Turkey and its Sunni Islamist politics in the Middle East. In Koban, the Kurds did not lose but ISIL lost,” Irmak noted.

“The Kurds have also gained weight in the international arena, and this is also making Erdogan wary,” the deputy said.

The second reason for the aggravation is related to the Turkish domestic politics, the deputy believes.

“Erdogan wanted, by promising the Kurds to solve the Kurdish issue using the voice of the Kurds, to introduce a presidential system… Justice and Development Party (AKP, led by Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu) has been in power in our country for 13 years. All these years it had promised the Kurds it would solve their issues, receiving votes from them. However, after June 7 (election day in the Turkish parliament in 2015), suddenly everything changed. AKP opened fire against the Kurds. After the June 7 elections, the AKP could not form a government and change the political system,” Irmak further noted.

Previously, many analysts had expressed the view that the previous search for a compromise with the Kurds had pushed Erdogan away from the Turkish electorate. By aggravating the situation, Erdogan has spoiled the image of the AKP being a pro-Kurdish party and mobilized his part of the electorate. As a result, in the by-elections of November 1, 2015 his party AKP improved its results to 49.5 percent from 40.8.

Western politicians have remained silent about the clashes in Turkish Kurdistan between security forces and Kurds, because Europe is dependent on Turkey in solving the refugee problem. Meanwhile, the United States wants to continue using the country’s Incirlik military base, Selma Irmak said.

“Unfortunately, the international community looks indifferent to these developments. Turkey has captured Europe, using refugees from the Middle East as a weapon against Europe, blackmailing it. The US is also silent because it has common interests with Turkey. For example, the United States wants to continue using the Incirlik airport, hence they are silent too. The Turkish Army just gets bolder from such impunity,” the Turkish MP said.

In December, the Turkish government announced a curfew affecting a number of Kurdish regions in south-east Turkey, particularly Sur, Diyarbakir, Cizre and Silopi in Sirnak Province, as well as Nusaybin and Mardin in Dargeçit Province. In Cizre and Sura, street clashes continue between security forces and fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.

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The Kurdish-backed Syria Democratic Forces have taken control of around 70 percent of Tal Rifaat, a town between Aleppo city and Azaz near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights conflict monitor said on Monday.

A major offensive against Syrian rebels, supported by Russian bombing and Iranian-backed forces, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border and Kurdish-backed forces have exploited the situation, seizing ground from Syrian rebels to extend its presence along the frontier.

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Turkey should not be treated as a nation capable of carrying out independent policies, Syrian defense expert Hassan al-Hassan told RIA Novosti.

Instead, "Ankara should be seen as America's Turkish project, which is aimed at creating controlled chaos in the region," the retired general noted, adding that Washington, for instance, gave the nod to Turkey to shell Syria.

The US, according to al-Hassan, is upholding instability in the Middle East by simultaneously helping the Kurds, the Turks and the Saudis. Washington first launched this campaign in Tunisia and is now focused on Syria, he added, apparently referring to the so-called Arab Spring uprisings.

"I am convinced that the United States is deliberately dragging Turkey into the war… the same way that Washington convinced other countries to take part in conducting airstrikes in Syria," the expert observed.

The US-led coalition is not authorized to participate in the anti-Daesh campaign in Syria since, unlike Russia, it has never been formally invited by the state to assist Damascus-led forces with its counterterrorism activities.

Washington's support of Turkey and Saudi Arabia's possible (if not looming) ground offensive, according to al-Hassan, will be limited to sending weapons to Ankara and Riyadh. "This is one of the key goals – to make everyone fight each other for the benefit of America's defense industry."

Turkey has long been rumored to be planning to send troops to Syria. Turkish soldiers are said to have occasionally crossed the border and enter the war-torn Arab country.

For its part, Saudi Arabia announced that it was ready to participate in a US-led ground offensive, if one is launched, earlier this month. Last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir reaffirmed that Riyadh was ready to provide special operations forces for the operation. Rumors circulate that the Saudis could deploy thousands of troops, if asked.

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At least 5 people have been killed and 10 more injured in a car explosion in Ankara, local authorities said. The blast happened in close proximity to the Turkish parliament building, reportedly hitting a military dormitory.

Social media users in Ankara say they heard a loud noise all across the city, and posted photos of a huge plume of smoke rising over downtown Eskisehir Avenue.

CNN Türk said that military lodging facilities were targeted and there were a large number of casualties.

Twenty ambulances were sent to the scene of the blast, media reported, citing medical officials.

Witnesses reported helicopters circling the area above the blast.

Last October several explosions at a peace rally in the Turkish capital killed more than 100 people and injured dozens more. The explosions appeared to be the result of suicide bomb attacks.

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The Turkish authorities recently stated that it would be impossible to resolve the Syrian conflict without an offensive on the ground. The US and Europe are, however, not too excited about Ankara's proposals, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) wrote.

The West started to doubt Ankara's commitment to the quick resolution of the Syrian crisis, DWN wrote.
According to the newspaper, Western countries are aware Ankara's main goal is not to eliminate terrorists, but rather fight against the Kurdish militias who proved extremely efficient in destroying jihadist strongholds.

Ankara fears that the Kurdish fighters will create a "corridor" along the Syrian-Turkish which may spark secessionist movements among Turkish Kurds. According to the newspaper, Turkey's direct intervention in the conflict will thus only complicate the situation in Syria and is unlikely to contribute to the early resolution of the crisis.

Ankara is currently actively shelling Kurdish positions in northern Syria from across the border, which constitutes a clear violation of the international law.

Recently, the Turkish government additionally called on the members of the US-led anti-terrorist coalition to send ground troops into Syria. However, none of the NATO allies seem to be too excited about this idea.

According to the newspaper, Washington is unwilling to become directly involved in another Middle Eastern ground war. Moreover, the US officials are starting to question Turkey as a reliable ally.

A US-led coalition of 66 nations has been bombing terrorist targets in Syria since September 2014 without any approval of the Syrian government or the UN Security Council. Despite coalition efforts, Daesh maintains control over large swaths of territory, including the city Mosul in Iraq and the group's de facto "capital" in Raqqa, Syria.

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Turkey wants to create a secure zone 10km within Syria, which would include the town of Azaz, Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan stated, as cited by Reuters. The move comes after Ankara’s shelling of Syrian Kurds for four successive days.

"What we want is to create a secure strip, including Azaz, 10km deep inside Syria and this zone should be free from clashes," Akdogan said in an interview on Turkey's AHaber television station, Reuters reports.

However, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned on Wednesday that Ankara does not intend to stop shelling Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. He also called on the US to choose whether it wanted to back Turkey or the Syrian Kurds.

Turkey has shelled Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria for four consecutive days as Ankara tries to stop the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units) from claiming the town of Azaz, just 8km from the Turkish border.

A Turkish official said on Tuesday that Ankara would ask its coalition partners, including the US, to take part in a joint ground operation in Syria.

"Turkey is not going to have a unilateral ground operation. We are asking coalition partners that there should be a ground operation. We are discussing this with allies," the official told reporters at a briefing in Istanbul, as cited by Reuters.

"We want a ground operation. If there is a consensus, Turkey will take part. Without a ground operation, it is impossible to stop this war."

Meanwhile, on Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said Ankara would not allow Azaz to fall to the YPG forces.

"YPG elements were forced away from around Azaz. If they approach again they will see the harshest reaction. We will not allow Azaz to fall," Davutoglu told reporters on his plane bound for Ukraine, Reuters reported.

He said the Turkish military would render Syria’s Menagh airbase "unusable" if YPG forces do not retreat from the area, which they previously captured from Islamist militants. He warned the YPG not to move east of its Afrin region or west of the Euphrates River.

Turkey is worried about Syrian Kurds seizing more territory in northern Syria.

Washington and Paris have both called on Turkey to cease its massive artillery bombardment against Kurdish targets in Syria.

“We are concerned about the situation north of Aleppo and are working to de-escalate tensions on all sides,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. “We have also seen reports of artillery fire from the Turkish side of the border and urged Turkey to cease such fire.”

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sToRmR1dR said:

BREAKING:

At least 5 killed, 10 injured as blast hits military dorm in Turkish capital Ankara

https://www.rt.com/news/332788-ankara-blast-military-dorm/

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Hours after the deadly bombing in Ankara, Turkey vowed to “exert more efforts” to punish the perpetrators, rushing to suspect the Kurds. However, experts suggest that accusing the PKK is a “politically convenient” move for Turkey to intensify its crackdown.

A large explosion hit three military vehicles near parliament buildings in the Turkish capital, claiming the lives of at least 28 people and leaving 61 wounded. Speaking after the terrorist attack, President Tayyip Erdogan said his country is now more than ever determined to “defend itself.”

“We will continue our struggle against these pawns, which carried out these attacks that had no moral or humane boundaries and the powers behind them every day in a more determined manner,” he said in an official statement, avoiding any direct accusations.

Erdogan promised to retaliate “everywhere” possible to avenge the deaths of those killed on Wednesday and in previous attacks.

“It must be known that Turkey will not hesitate to use its legitimate right to defend itself always, everywhere and under any circumstances,” he said. “The losses we suffered during the last attack and in previous attacks and clashes tear our hearts out, but also sharpen our resolution and impel us to exert more efforts.”

Several hours after the bombing, no group has claimed responsibility, leaving the door open for speculations and accusations.

An unnamed Turkish security official told Reuters that the bombing had the “initial signs” of a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attack. Other sources suggested that Islamic State militants (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) were to blame.

“Let’s not forget that whenever something like that happens inside Turkey, the first place that they are going to point the finger is going to be the PKK,” Daniel Wagner, CEO of Country Risk Solutions told RT. He believes that Islamic State is “the likelier root of the cause.”

“If you look at some of the previous attacks, how successful they’ve been, the number of casualties that they’ve had in the recent months, it certainly seems to have a hallmark of Islamic State,” Solutions said. Yet, he adds, the Turkish government is quick to point the finger at the PKK.

“Of course, it is politically convenient for them to do that as they are waging an enhanced war against the PKK,” he said.

Thus last year, roughly two weeks after a twin suicide attack, allegedly ordered by IS killed 102 people during a peaceful rally in Ankara on October 10, the Turkish military shelled Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

“Turkey has been waging an aggressive war against Kurdish civilians, not just Kurdish military personnel – they have been doing it for over 20 years, so there is a lot of long-standing bad blood between the Kurds and the Turks,” former CIA intelligence officer, Larry Johnson, told RT, stressing that the PKK’s involvement in Wednesday's attack, even if turns out to be true, would not be surprising.

“In any event, Turkey is going to use this as a justification for more aggressive military action outside of Turkey,” Johnson thinks.

The bombing on Wednesday in Ankara is the latest in a cycle of violence that has hit Turkey since July 7, 2015, when an IS attack killed 33 in the town of Suruc. The latest bombing came a little over a month since an attack in Istanbul, which killed 11 German tourists. According to the Anadolu agency, by last October, terror acts had claimed the lives of 145 Turkish security forces and 137 civilians in 98 days.

“After the four bombings that happened and it was announced by ISIS that it was staged, the current government was again busy putting the blame on Kurds,” Firat Demir, an international political expert, told RT.

Turkey has been facing harsh criticism over its ongoing shelling of Kurdish and Syrian government forces in the vicinity of Azaz. Ankara says it wants to create “a secure strip, including Azaz, 10km deep inside Syria and this zone should be free from clashes.”

However, President Erdogan mentioned on Wednesday that Ankara does not intend to stop shelling Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

“They tell us to stop shelling” the Kurds in Syria, Erdogan said over a televised address. “Forgive me, but there is no question of us doing such a thing.”

“Today, the rules of engagement may only cover responding to armed attacks on our nation. But if needed, tomorrow the same rules can be expanded to include all sorts of threats to our country,” he said, warning “no one should doubt that.”

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An explosion occured nxt to military convoy on the road to Diyarbakir, Haberturk reports.

A homemade explosive device detonated near a military convoy in the country’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir with reports of injuries, Haberturk news portal reported Thursday citing military sources.

​Ambulances are heading to the scene; the number of victims is unknown.

Yesterday, the explosion took place at a military housing complex near the Turkish parliament building in Ankara. A fire then broke out at the site of the explosion. At least 28 people were killed and over 60 were injured.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cancelled his visit to Brussels in the wake of the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.

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Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish militant camps in northern Iraq overnight, hours after a suicide car bomb attack targeting military buses killed 28 soldiers and civilians in the Turkish capital Ankara, security sources said on Thursday.

A car laden with explosives detonated next to the military buses as they waited at traffic lights near Turkey's armed forces' headquarters, parliament and government buildings in the administrative heart of Ankara late on Wednesday.

The military condemned what it described as a terrorist attack and a senior security source said initial signs indicated that Kurdish militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were responsible.

The co-leader of the PKK umbrella group, Cemil Bayik, said he did not know who was responsible but the attack could be a response to "massacres in Kurdistan", referring to the Kurdish region covering parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

The attack, the latest in a series of bombings in the past year mostly blamed on Islamic State, comes as Turkey gets dragged ever deeper into the war in neighboring Syria and tries to contain some of the fiercest violence in decades in its predominantly Kurdish southeast.

It is part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and has been shelling Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria in recent days.

It has also been battling PKK militants in its own southeast where a 2-1/2 year ceasefire collapsed last July, plunging the region into its worst violence since the 1990s.

"We don't know who did this. But it could be an act of retaliation for the massacres in Kurdistan," Bayik was quoted as saying by the Firat news agency, seen as close to the PKK.

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http://www.sott.net/article/307515-Russia-versus-NATOs-Gladio-2-0-Turkish-jihad-from-China-to-Syria said:

Turkey: A wholly-owned subsidiary of the CIA since 1945

The seamless transition from Gladio to Gladio 2.0 is best illustrated by NATO member Turkey, which has the edge over other NATO members in this new Western intelligence 'game' because it has a large Muslim population and is strategically situated to contain Russian access to, and influence in, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Turkish branch of covert CIA Gladio operations began on September 27th 1952, when the Tactical Mobilization Group (STK) (special operations department of the Turkish military) was created with the consent of Brigadier-General Daniş Karabelen of Turkey's National Defense Supreme Council. Karabelen was one of sixteen soldiers (including Alparslan Türkeş) who had been sent to the United States in 1948 for training in special warfare (assassinations, bombings etc.) During their training several were directly recruited into the CIA.

In 1965 these same men formed the core of Turkey's Special Warfare Department, which replaced the STK. During the 1970s, the Special Warfare Department was run by General Kemal Yamak. In his memoirs, Yamak stated that the United States had set aside around $1m for weapons for the group. This CIA organisation within Turkey was effectively a parallel government or 'deep state', and it was only when Yamak asked then Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit for more cash for his operations that Ecevit actually became aware of the operation's existence. Not wanting to expose to his fellow ministers that Turkey had no real sovereignty to speak of, Ecevit suggested that the organization seek support from Europe. So Yamak contacted generals from the United Kingdom and France, from whom he received a positive response.

In 1992 this Special Warfare Department was renamed the "Special Forces Command", although it remains largely controlled by the CIA to this day.

Concurrently with this complete subversion of Turkey's military hierarchy, the CIA also began funding Turkey's civilian intelligence agency - the 'National Intelligence Organization' - in which it maintained a cadre of moles, as acknowledged in 1977 by its former deputy director - and CIA recruit - Sabahattin Savasman.

Having infiltrated the Turkish civilian and military intelligence establishments, the CIA then sought to co-opt Turkish political and civilian life also. In the 1960s, under US direction, one of the above-mentioned 16 soldiers, Alparslan Turkes, established the 'civilian' Associations for Struggling with Communism, and funded the far-right National Movement Party (MHP). The National Movement Party espoused a fanatical pan-Turkic ideology that called for reclaiming large sections of the Soviet Union under the flag of a reborn Turkish empire. This ideology was, of course, perfectly matched with the US 'cold war' ideology aimed at attacking the Soviet Union, and the CIA clearly were interested in promoting it, although their job was relatively easy given that Turkes and his cohorts had also been enthusiastic supporters of Hitler during World War II, who had also attempted to undermine Soviet unity under the flag of Pan-Turkism.

The paramilitary wing of the MHP (today the third largest political party in Turkey) is called the 'Grey Wolves'. In the 1960s, Turkes established over 100 camps across Turkey where members received ideological and paramilitary training from CIA agents, including one former Nazi SS member. This system was analogous to the hundreds of 'madrassas' established with CIA money for the training of jihadi extremists in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Often masquerading as 'cultural' or 'sports' organizations, the Grey Wolves in Turkey carried out shootings and bombings against left-wing and liberal activists, journalists, judges, Kurds and anyone else who was deemed a threat to US control over Turkey. Over 6,000 people were killed.

Working with the CIA-controlled National Intelligence Organization, the Grey Wolves were also involved in several coup d'etats in Turkey and at least one foreign attempted coup in Azerbaijan in 1995. It was immediately after this 1995 coup that Azerbaijan was 'opened up' to Western capital and, in the words of investigative journalist Greg Palast, became the 'Republic of BP' (British Petroleum). The Grey Wolves also fought against Russian soldiers as proxy forces for NATO in both Chechen wars, and 15,000 'Grey Wolves' fought on the side of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988 - 94) against Armenia (another US proxy war designed to provoke Russia).

With their fanatical 'pan-Turkic' ideology, the Grey Wolves have, more recently, been put to good CIA use in the farthest reaches of their 'Turkish empire'. In recent years, the Eastern Turkestan Grey Wolf Party has sprung up in China's western province of Xinjiang, supposedly in support of the Turkic-speaking Uyghur ethnic minority, some of whom have apparently been encouraged to embrace 'jihad'. On March 1st, 2014, eight of these Uyghurs hacked 33 people to death at a train station in the southern Chinese city of Kunming. The perpetrators were found with a hand-painted East Turkestan flag and said that they had wanted to go abroad to engage in 'jihad', but with no papers to leave China they decided to go on a domestic killing spree instead.

In July this year the Thai government stopped over 100 Uyghurs on their way to wage glorious 'CIA-had' in Syria (via Turkey), and sent them back to China. The US State Department was very annoyed - so annoyed, in fact, that in August a bomb exploded at a shrine in Bangkok, killing 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese holiday-makers. The key suspect fled to Turkey. An accomplice to the bomber was arrested and found to be carrying 11 Turkish passports. The bombing is now suspected to have been carried out by the Grey Wolves in retaliation for Thailand's previous deportation of Uyghur terrorist suspects back to China instead of allowing them to travel to Turkey, and then Syria.

On the feel-good, peace-loving humanitarian front, the US government has gone 'all in' to create and financially support (via the NED) the World Uyghur Congress (in 2004), a political (rather than military) tool designed specifically to put pressure on the Chinese government.

But the Kunming and Bangkok attacks are likely to be just a small taste of what is to come. This is why Russia is attempting to strangle the creature in its cradle in Syria. And this is why Russia conducted the largest military exercises seen since the Cold War - 100,000 soldiers across 6,000km of southern Russia - held in September just days before Putin started bombing the hell out of terrorists in Syria, and simulating "an international threat coming from central Asia."

There is substantial evidence of a major US/NATO operation to traffic Chinese Uyghur fighters from Xinjiang to Turkey, and then Syria, and back again to bring 'jihad' to western China. According to Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based satellite news service, abandoned villages in northern Syria have recently been filling up with the families of Muslim Chinese Uyghurs. These Uyghurs, claims the report, are entering the country, along with their wives and children, to fight alongside Al Nusra Front (formerly known as Al Qaeda) and ISIS/Daesh against the Syrian government. In addition to providing a cadre of battle-trained fighters to ship back to China, the influx of 'Turkic' Uyghurs into northern Syria is very likely an attempt by the Turkish government to populate the area with 'Turks' in advance of potential 'peace talks' on the likely future break-up of Syria.

With that little bit of background, let's take a look at an image of the individual who appeared on camera in the immediate aftermath of the shoot-down of the Russian Su-24, the same man who claimed that he and his friends had shot at and killed the Russian pilot, and were also responsible for the attack on the Russian rescue helicopter with a US-supplied TOW anti-tank missile that killed another Russian marine:

His name is Alparslan Celik; he's standing in front of the flag of 'East Turkestan' and is giving the signature 'Grey Wolves' hand salute. He's not Syrian, he's not even a Syrian Turkman; he's just Turkish, the son of a former MHP mayor of an eastern Turkish town.

With that said, here are a few (perhaps rhetorical) questions:
- Was it just a coincidence that members of this long-term, NATO-sponsored, pan-Turkic paramilitary group, with direct connections to recent Turkish-linked terrorist atrocities in China and Thailand, were in the right place at the right time to kill the Russian pilot after he ejected?

- Was it just a coincidence that, within a couple of hours, Fox News and CNN reporters were there on the scene to interview this Turkish 'Grey Wolf' and broadcast him gloating about the murder of the Russian pilot, in doing so pushing Turkish/Russian relations past the point of no return?

- Is it just a coincidence that this is the second time in the last 18 months that a non-EU country on Russia's border has seen its relationship with Russia destroyed over the shoot-down of a plane (MH17, previously) and promises of entry into the EU?

- Can it really be seen as a coincidence that, just a few days before the Turkish PM was scheduled to go to Brussels to talk about getting a €3billion hand out for dealing with Syrian refugees and fast-tracking the long-sought-after Turkish entry into the 'elite' EU club, someone shoots down a Russian bomber from Turkey, forcing the Turkish government to 'own' it and thereby destroying their relationship with Russia?
I suppose not. Everyone has to pick a side, it seems, and some people need a little encouragement.

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Ankara is content with illegally shelling Syria from across the border, and sending mercenaries to do the real dirty work

For the last few days, reports have been streaming in about Turkey allowing "moderate rebels" to cross its border into Syria in an attempt to stop the advances of the SAA and Kurdish forces. Apparently unwilling to risk direct military intervention without full US support, Ankara has chosen a different strategy: Lob shells across the border, and let mercenaries to do the on-the-ground terrorizing.

The latest from the Guardian:

At least 500 rebels on Wednesday crossed the Turkish border, a monitor said, and headed for the Syrian town of Azaz in northern Aleppo province where opposition forces have suffered setbacks at the hands of Kurdish fighters.
We should point out that the "monitor" cited by the Guardian is none other than the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the London-based rumor mill that is most likely a front for western intelligence agencies. But what does this tell us? Our guess is that Turkey might actually be acting unilaterally -- and the west is running out of patience. Let's not forget that the Kurds being targeted by Ankara continue to receive diplomatic and military backing from the US.

But how accurate is this report? We would bet it's right on the money -- maybe even a a cover for operations by Turkish special forces. Earlier this week it was reported that Turkey had allowed some 350 fighters to cross the border into Syria. Who these "fighters" are is anyone's guess.

And it's hardly surprising that Ankara would flood Syria with new waves of fighters: If the Turkish-backed "moderates" lose Azaz, it could be the knock-out punch to Ankara's ambitions in Northern Syria. The situation as it stands now:

As this map shows, Turkey has continued its UN-condemned shelling of Kurdish positions (represented by the blue rockets on map).

For now, Turkey and Saudi Arabia seem unwilling to commit to a direct invasion -- so they're just doubling down on the same strategy they've used since the beginning of this conflict: Send in proxies.

With Russia now openly supporting Kurdish forces, it will be interesting to see how Turkey's proxy army fares against Russian airstrikes.

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Turkish forces have escorted at least 2,000 militants back to Syria over the last week in a covert operation to reverse the loss of terrorist groups, sources say.

"We have been allowed to move everything from light weapons to heavy equipment mortars and missiles and our tanks," Abu Issa, a commander of the militant group Levant Front, which runs the border crossing of Bab al-Salam, told Reuters on Thursday.

The militants, then, headed into the embattled border town of A’zaz in Syria’s northern Aleppo Province, he added.

The route across Turkey has become the only path for militants to enter Aleppo, after the Syrian army recently captured the main lifeline into the militant-held territory.

Another militant source said the Turkish army had stepped up delivery of arms and heavy military hardware in the last two days to reinforce militants facing a major offensive by Syrian forces.

Syrian troops have come within 25 miles (40 kilometers) of the Turkish border for the first time in over two years.

On Thursday, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that hundreds of militants had crossed from the Turkish territory into A’zaz under the supervision of Turkish authorities in the last few days.

Ankara has been targeting YPG positions in northern Syria over the last few days in an attempt to stop Kurdish forces from reaching the Syrian border with Turkey, while Syrian forces have been making steady gains.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that Turkish forces will continue to shell Kurdish positions on Syrian soil.

Turkey regards the YPG and its umbrella group the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as an ally of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.

The YPG, which controls nearly Syria’s entire northern border with Turkey, has been fighting against the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.

Turkey has been among the main supporters of the militant groups fighting to topple the Syrian government.

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European soccer's governing body charged Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow and one of its players with improper conduct Wednesday for revealing a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin on his t-shirt after a politically charged game in Turkey.

UEFA rules prohibit political statements at its matches and the laws of football ban players from revealing images and slogans on underclothing.

Lokomotiv player Dmitri Tarasov took off his team shirt to reveal the Putin t-shirt after his team lost to Turkish side Fenerbahce 2-0 in Istanbul on Tuesday in the Europa League.

Emblazoned beneath the image of Putin wearing a Russian navy cap were the words in Russian: 'The most polite president.''

UEFA said its disciplinary panel will judge the case on March 17.

Relations between the countries have been tense since November when a Russian warplane was shot down after it violated Turkey's border near Syria.

Tarasov later defended his behavior to Russian agency R-Sport:

''It's my president. I respect him and decided to show that I'm always with him and prepared to give my support,'' the 28-year-old Russia international said. ''What was written on that shirt was everything that I wanted to say.''

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Tuesday's match was the most high-profile meeting of Russian and Turkish teams since UEFA rejected calls last year to separate the two countries in competition draws.

Russia and Turkey avoided each other in the draw for the 2016 European Championship, which takes place in France this summer.

But Lokomotiv and Fenerbahce were paired in the Europa League round of 32. The return leg match will be played in Moscow on Feb. 25.

Also Tuesday, bottles were thrown at Lokomotiv's team bus as it headed to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium where the match was played. Turkish police said three people it detained were drunk, and local police said the attack was by Fenerbahce fans.

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Some 150 Kurds have been burned alive in different buildings by Turkish military forces, as government’s offensive on mainly Kurdish southeastern provinces brings new victims, a member of the Turkish parliament from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, Feleknas Uca, told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Over the past month, Turkish forces have repeatedly attacked YPG positions in Syria, claiming the Kurdish militia is a terrorist group that threatens Turkish security.

"In Cizre district of Sırnak, around 150 people have been burned alive in different buildings by Turkish military forces. Some corpses were found without heads. Some were burned completely, so that autopsy is not possible," Uca said on Thursday.

Uca added that all the victims in the Sırnak province that borders Syria and Iraq were Kurds.

"Many people and journalists rise against an imminent massacre like in Cizre," she added.

Turkish Offensive Against Kurds Underway in Diyarbakir, 200 People Trapped

Feleknas Uca also stated that Turkey continues offensive against Kurdish-populated Diyarbakir province, where at least 200 people have been trapped in basements.

"The situation in Diyarbakir is terrible. Its district Sur is seeing 79th day of curfew. 200 people were trapped in basements, and Turkey’s special forces do not allow to rescue them," Uca said Thursday, adding that an offensive in Sur continues.

Relations between Ankara and Kurds both inside the country and in Syria have been progressively worsening. Turkey links Syrian Kurds to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and labels both terrorist organizations.

Tensions escalated in July 2015, after 33 Kurdish activists were killed in a suicide blast in the Suruc district and two Turkish policemen were later killed by PKK, which led to Ankara's military campaign against the group. Violence escalated further in December, when Turkish authorities declared a curfew in a number of southeastern regions.

Turkey's authorities were also quick to blame Kurdish organizations for Wednesday's blast in the Turkish capital Ankara that killed 28 and left 61 people wounded.

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