Turkey says Syria ceasefire not binding as clashes persist in its southeast

ISTANBUL — Turkey will not be bound by the Syrian ceasefire plan if its security is threatened, and will take "necessary measures" against the Syrian Kurdish YPG and Daesh if required, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday.

The ceasefire process, initiated by Russia and the United States, could be complicated by NATO member Turkey's deep distrust of the Washington-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which controls territory in northern Syria near the Turkish border. Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group and fears it will further stoke unrest among its own Kurdish population.

"The ceasefire is not binding for us when there is a situation that threatens Turkey's security; we will take necessary measures against both the YPG and Daesh when we feel the need to," Davutoglu said in comments broadcast live on CNN Turk television. 

"Ankara is the only place that decides actions regarding Turkey's security," he said.

Syria's opposition has indicated it is ready for a two-week truce, saying it is a chance to test the sincerity of the Syrian government in accepting the deal.

The YPG told Reuters on Wednesday it would respect a ceasefire, but reserved the right to respond if attacked. Turkey has shelled YPG positions in Syria in recent weeks, saying it was retaliating to cross-border fire.

'Divide Syria'

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the YPG and its political wing, the PYD, sought to carve up Syria.

"Just like Daesh, they want to divide Syria to form their own management," Cavusoglu told the Anadolu Agency in an interview broadcast live on television.

He also said that Saudi planes, due to take part in air strikes against Daesh, were expected to arrive at Turkey's Incirlik Air Base "today or tomorrow".

The Dogan news agency cited army sources as saying Saudi F-15s would arrive at Incirlik on Friday.

Turkey regards the YPG as a sister organisation to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency in which 40,000 people have been killed. The PKK, which wants autonomy for Turkey's Kurds, is seen as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

Southeast clashes

A ceasefire between the PKK and the state collapsed in July and since then Turkey's security forces have killed hundreds of PKK members, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians in the process.

In the latest operations, conducted in the Idil district of Sirnak province near the borders with Syria and Iraq, security forces killed 20 PKK militants, the army said on Thursday.

One Turkish soldier was killed in the Sur district of Diyarbakir, where a curfew has been in place for more than three months.

Separately on Thursday, a British member of parliament was briefly detained in Diyarbakir, the southeast's largest city. Natalie McGarry posted on her Twitter account that she was safe after being questioned.

"I was not arrested, but answered some questions. I am absolutely fine and have no further comment," McGarry said.

The British embassy in Ankara had earlier confirmed the incident. British media said McGarry was visiting Turkey as part of a campaign calling on the government to release Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan on the 17th anniversary of his imprisonment.

Amnesty International this week said human rights had deteriorated sharply in Turkey's Kurdish areas, estimating that 200,000 civilians had been affected by curfews.

"Civilians are unable to access basic rights of life, from food to education to emergency medical care," Ruhat Sena Aksener, Amnesty International's director of campaigns in Turkey, said in an interview.