Today, Tuesday, the Kremlin warned Turkey against “destabilizing” in northern Syria, as Ankara launched several air strikes against Kurdish fighters, a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the possibility of launching a ground operation in Syrian territory.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “We understand Turkey’s concerns related to its security… but at the same time, we call on all parties to refrain from any initiative that could lead to a serious destabilization of the general situation.”
This comes while Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying that the Turkish military operations in northern Syria and Iraq are not limited to an air campaign and that discussions will be held about the participation of ground forces in it.
Today, Turkey called on its allies, led by the United States, to “stop all support” for the People’s Protection Units, which is the main Kurdish faction in Syria Ankara considers it a “terrorist” while Washington supports it in the fight against ISIS.
For its part, the United States called earlier today for a “de-escalation” in Syria, in response to Erdogan’s statements, who threatened Monday to carry out a ground operation in the north of the country after a series of air raids on Kurdish in Syria and Iraq and missile attacks on Turkish territory from Syrian territory.
Furthermore, the Turkish Air Force carried out Operation Claw of the Sword on Sunday, by launching a series of raids targeting the PKK and the People’s Protection Units in northern Iraq and Syria.