Turkish PM accuses Russia of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Syria

RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY Putin noted that the new cruise missile can be equipped with both conventional and nuclear warheads.

He said: “What did 20th-century countries used to do in a similar situation?”

Russia, meanwhile, maintains the jet never entered Turkish territory and was downed over Syria.

The Prime Minister is said to have told Mr Putin that the United Kingdom is still opposed to the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad remaining in charge in Syria.

Putin warned that Russian Federation would not change its attitude to Turkey after the Su-24 flight recorder had been decoded irrespective of the result.

“Following the downing of the Russian warplane, the project has been thrown into massive uncertainty”, one senior energy official said.

The two leaders also talked about increasing cooperation “in this context”, the statement added.

David Cameron and Russian president Vladimir Putin have agreed that their countries should “work together” in the fight against the Islamic State terror group, Downing Street has said.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday accused Russian Federation of attempting an “ethnic cleansing” in northern Syria through its air strikes.

But consensus on how to proceed has been thwarted by opposing policies over the four-year-old civil war in Syria, which has killed 250,000 people, driven 11 million from their homes.

Speaking to foreign reporters at his Istanbul offices in the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus, Davutoglu said he was nonetheless ready to work with Moscow to prevent a repeat of the November 24 incident.

Latakia is a region in northern Syrian near the border with Turkey, in the same part of the country where Russian Federation has established airbases, and where Assad’s forces are, generally, in control. “In total we carried out 300 sorties and hit 600 various targets”, he said adding that all sorties were performed with the backing of Su-30 fighter jets. This is denied by Russian Federation.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also voiced concern Tuesday about the reported bombing of a Syrian army camp without addressing the USA claim that Russian Federation was responsible for the bombing.

Lately, that propaganda machine has been pumping out slick war videos from Syria, where Putin launched a campaign of airstrikes in September, that showcase Russia’s advanced military capabilities, new weaponry and tactics.

“They want to expel, they want to ethnically cleanse this area so that regime and Russian bases in Latakia and Tartus are protected”, he said.

Turkey, a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and of the U.S.-led coalition that is bombing Islamic State in Syria, has long called for Assad’s overthrow.

Once the evacuation of the rebels is completed, the city of Homs will fully return to government control.

The Kalibr cruise missile is an updated version of a missile that has been in Russian service since 2012, according to online sources. It argued data from the black box would prove them right.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Chris Harmer, a senior military analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said the advantage of the conflict in Ukraine is it provided USA forces their first real glance into Russian capabilities in decades.