Russian Federation calls Turkey’s accusations of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Syria groundless

Davutoglu also said that Russia’s military strikes in Syria, which began in late September, were “strengthening” Isis by targeting moderate forces opposing Assad, especially around Azaz in northern Syria.

Russia responded on Thursday to the accusations made by Turkey on Wednesday that Russian airstrikes in Syria were aiming to achieve ethnic cleansing.

Britain offered its assistance to Russia two weeks after Turkey downed a Russian warplane in Syria, leading to a severe crisis in ties with Moscow. We treated Turkey not just as a friend but as an ally in the fight against terror.

“Russia is trying to make ethnic cleansing in northern Latakia to force [out] all Turkmen and Sunni population who do not have good relations with the regime”, Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters on 9 December, Reuters reports.

Russian Federation flexed its military muscles on Tuesday as it launched strikes in Syria for the first time from a submarine stationed in the Mediterranean, ratcheting up its bombing campaign in the war-torn country. “The Kalibrs (sea based cruise missiles) and KH-101 (airborne cruise missile) have proved to be modern and highly effective, and now we know it for sure – precision weapons that can be equipped with both conventional and special warheads, which are nuclear”, Putin said.

“Naturally, we do not need that in fighting terrorists, and I hope we will never need it”, he continued. Turkish voters won’t look kindly upon any government that lets their “brothers” in any part of the world be driven from their homes, as is now happening to Syria’s Turkmen. Among the worst sectarian massacres of the war was the killing of hundreds of Sunni Muslim men, women and children by an Alawite militia in the town of Baniyas in Tartus province in 2013.

Turkey considers “these Kurdish militias as enemies”.

He warned that Russia’s action could force “many more millions” to flee the region, arguing that Russian bombings are serving the Islamic State (IS).

Turkey has a long-standing training mission based near Mosul but the arrival of fresh troops last week sparked uproar in Baghdad, which demanded the additional soldiers leave.

“If the issue of Assad continues to be artificially clung onto as an obstacle to creating an actual universal anti-terrorist coalition, then those who are insisting on this… will indirectly maintain the conditions that (allow) the Islamic State to continue expanding”, Lavrov said.