Moscow Demands Answers as Erdogan Vows to Oust ’Tyrant’ Assad
Local Editor
The Kremlin on Wednesday demanded an explanation after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara intervened in the Syria conflict solely to topple President Bashar Assad.
Turkish forces are pressing on with a three-month operation inside Syria in support of anti-Assad forces, while Russia is the chief ally of the Syrian president in the conflict that claimed more than 300,000 lives since 2011.
At the same time, Turkey and Russia have also been working hard to improve relations after clinching a reconciliation deal in June to repair ties brought to a historic low by Turkey's shooting down of a Russian jet in November 2015.
Erdogan had said at a meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday: "We went in there to put an end to the rule of the tyrant Assad who carries out state terror, not for anything else."
His comments came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to meet Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in the Turkish resort of Alanya on Thursday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists he hoped that "clarification will come shortly from our Turkish partners."
Peskov said Erdogan's comment "is not in harmony with previous statements" and "not in harmony with our understanding of the situation."
The Syrian foreign ministry said Erdogan's statement "shows clearly that the flagrant Turkish aggression against the Syrian territory is only the result of the ambitions and the illusions of an extremist despot".
"The leaders, the army and the Syrian people will not allow this arrogant despot to interfere in their affairs," it said in a statement.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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