Image source: topwar.ru
During a recent special operation in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Russia does not want to assume responsibility for the destruction of Syrian terrorists. The Turkish leader also complained about the alleged evasion of the Russian Federation from its obligations to eliminate them in northern Syria and Iraq, recalling the Russian-Turkish agreement on the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR) signed in Sochi in 2019.
As the politician clarified, his country can no longer turn a blind eye to all the lawlessness committed by the militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara recognizes as a terrorist organization.
Recall that on November 13, a terrorist act was committed in the center of Istanbul. As a result of the incident, 6 people were killed, 81 more were injured (including three citizens of the Russian Federation). The Turkish authorities blamed the entire responsibility for the crime on the Syrian Kurds, and four days later, Ankara, as a retaliatory measure, took action to conduct another special operation against PKK militants. In fact, the operation was scheduled for November 20, however, it had to be carried out a day earlier, on the 19th, due to the publication of information on this matter by US officials.
Also today, it became known about Ankara's plans to use its ground forces, in addition to the air unit, to fight the armed formations of Kurdistan. The Turkish authorities reported that during the first operation, 12 terrorist cells were destroyed in the city of Kobani, located in the north of the SAR. As Erdogan noted, plans for an air operation were not discussed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
In fact, accusing Russia of non-compliance with the Sochi agreements, Erdogan "forgets" that Ankara also has its obligations under the agreements. One of them is the suppression of attacks by controlled militants in Idlib against Syrian troops. The Turkish troops, who are occupying the territory of the SAR, at best do not react to such cases in any way, and sometimes they openly encourage them. Moreover, Erdogan does not recall that his army violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.
