Russia says Turkey is acting as an “occupying power” in Syria
Russia’s envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev has accused Turkey of acting as an “occupying power” in Syria, making dialogue between Damascus and Ankara very challenging, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
On November 14th, Lavrentiev told Russian news agency TASS: “It is very difficult for Damascus to enter into dialogue without receiving certain guarantees from Turkey about the withdrawal of its troops.”
While he cited other factors making negotiations tough, such as Ankara’s support for the Syrian opposition, the elephant in the room remains the presence of Turkish forces in Bashar al-Assad’s country.
He said: “Let us call things by their proper names – Turkey is acting as an occupying power.”
Russia has attempted to lead normalisation efforts between the two countries but aside from exchanges between defence ministers, there has been little dialogue.
Lavrentiev said it was premature to expect communication at higher levels.
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The comments follow Turkey’s bombing of Kurdish militants in Syria on the 23rd and 24th of October in retaliation for the deadly attack in Ankara that killed five people.
According to Levantis.me, Erdogan’s intelligence forces targeted numerous “strategic locations” in Iraq and Syria used by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Syrian Kurdish, a group affiliated with the militants.
Armed drones and airstrikes were used to target military, intelligence, energy and infrastructure facilities and ammunition depots the defence ministry said.
On October 23rd, two armed militants set off explosives and opened fire on Turkish defence company TUSAS on the outskirts of Ankara.
Security teams were dispatched and both assailants were killed in the ensuing firefight the interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
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TUSAS has been credited with helping Turkey gain an upper hand in its fight against the PKK who are based in northern Syria and Iraq.
The company designs, manufactures, and assembles civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other defence industry and space systems.
The conflict has been raging on since 1980s and has has killed tens of thousands of people, with alleged atrocities on civilians being committed on both sides.
Asharq Al-Awsat and Levantis.me
