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                    Turkey Denies Sending Troops Into Syria

   by VOA News

   Turkey's defense minister has denied Syrian allegations that Turkish
   troops entered Syria, and said Turkey has no plans to send its forces
   across the border.

   Turkey has been participating in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic
   State targets in Syria, but has not committed ground troops to the
   multi-faceted conflict.

   Syria made the allegations Sunday in a letter to the U.N. Security
   Council, saying Turkish forces were among a group of 100 gunmen who
   entered northern Syria on Saturday.

   Aleppo province has become a focal point in the Syrian conflict, with
   Turkey targeting U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters, and the Kurds battling a
   Russian-backed offensive by Syrian troops who are trying to recapture
   the area from several opposition groups.

   The fighting comes as major powers try to implement a temporary
   cessation of hostilities this week.

   European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday the
   current situation in Syria does not match the agreement to reverse the
   violence.

   "Only few days ago all of us, including Turkey, sitting around the
   table decided steps to de-escalate and have a cessation of hostilities,
   cessation of hostility," she said.  "We discussed concrete modalities
   for doing that. Having on the ground trends that go on the opposite
   direction is not obviously what we expect."

   Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄlu, in telephone talks Sunday, told
   German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Turkish forces will "not permit"
   the Kurdish People's Protection Units fighters (YPG), of the Democratic
   Union Party (PYD) "to carry out aggressive acts."

   Turkey sees the YPG as linked to an offshoot of Turkey's outlawed
   Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, and considers both groups terrorist
   organizations.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-denies-sending-troops-into-syria/3191273.html